I hope everyone had a great weekend! We had a hot weekend here in Southern California – it was nice to have lots of sunny weather but I do hope it will cool down soon. A few new items on my beauty radar right now:
Louboutin Beauté is launching 38 shades of lipstick in September retailing at $90 each. These are encased in a heavy duty metal cases that look like mini jeweled ornaments. There will be three formulas in Silky Satin, Sheer Voile and Velvet Matte. All will come encased in a gold base and cap except three Rouge Louboutin shades (one in each formula) which comes in a solid black metal case.
Lipstick Queen has six new shades of a Cupid Strikes Lip Pencil ($22 each). These are a lipliner and lipstick in one kind of product. I have my eye on the colors in Golden Arrow and Apollo – they look really pretty.
Clinique for Men launched a new Sonic System Deep Cleansing Brush ($89.50). My husband has been using my Clarisonic for a while (he has his own brush heads) but I’m glad to see some lines launching ones for men’s skin. Reports indicate the brushes are slightly different for men’s facial hair. This one has a nice sleek masculine look to it.
Clarisonic has a men’s tool in the new Alpha Fit Cleansing System for Men ($189). This one is quite a bit more pricey compared to the Clinique. I ordered this already a few weeks ago – the video demonstrated how how versatile it is. My husband likes the look – it has a good design and compact look. He’s testing it right now.
Tom Ford Beauty has launched 13 new shades of Lip Color (in the full size, $52 each). I have my eye on so many colors, in particular Guilty Pleasure, So Vain and Lilac. Some swatches of the colors on the Tom Ford Forum via Specktra.net.
Allure and Butter London teamed up to create a collection of 6 nail lacquers ($15 each). The colors include Disco Nap, I’m On the List, It’s Vintage, Lust or Must?, Nude Stilettos and Statement Piece.
Frederic Malle now carries the travel sized vials individually. They are expensive when you break down the price per ounce but it’s still a nice way to buy a smaller size instead of splurging on the full size bottle if you’re unsure. My go-to scent is Carnal Flower. I have my eye on Eau de Magnolia, Lipstick Rose and Dries Van Noten.
Earlier this year Burberry Beauty launched new formulas of eyeshadow to replace the original versions. I featured the four Wet & Dry Glow Eyeshadows eyeshadows earlier this year back in the spring. Today I have thoughts to share on several of the Wet & Dry Silk Eyeshadows ($29 each). Much of the Burberry Beauty line has gone through a revamp over the past year. Color products have been reformulated and launched in
batches, starting with eyeshadows, followed by Kisses Hydrating Lip Color and most recently Kisses Lip Gloss. There are a number of new product launches in eyes and lips as well. I hope to feature those soon – today I have swatches of nine silk eyeshadow colors.
The new Wet & Dry Silk Eyeshadow comes in the same size compact as the original Sheer Eyeshadow formula. They are priced the same but the new formulas have slightly more product at 2.7 g / 0.09 oz (the original versions were 2.5 g each). Both the old and formula have a mix of matte, satin and high shimmer shades. The newer formula shimmers are more finely milled and less powdery in texture – they are still very soft and easy to build but the pigment has improved significantly. The quality of the new Wet & Dry Silk Eyeshadows is excellent and among the best I’ve ever tried. If you’re looking for high quality staple colors to give a classic polished look, Burberry is the way to go if you don’t mind single eyeshadows. They are easy to apply and blend easily. The mattes are very good mattes – I usually hate matte eyeshadows because they often look chalky or apply unevenly on my skin (the only exceptions for me are from Urban Decay, Tom Ford and Edward Bess). The Burberry ones go on smoothly and have a richly pigmented finish. The shimmers have a very soft finish – they aren’t high frost.
Some of the original colors have been relaunched in the new formula. I swatched some of them side by side and find they are not the same. My holy grail neutral was Pale Barley No. 22. It’s been launched in Pale Barley No. 102. It’s still a very good neutral and very similar. The original version is more shimmery and more complex while the new one is more finely milled and slightly sheerer in finish.
Descriptions of nine of the new colors:
Porcelain No. 100 is a pale shimmering ivory champange
Stone No. 101 is a richly pigmented matte bone color
Pale Barley No. 102 is a sheer-to-medium neutral fawn shimmer
Rosewood No. 202 is a shimmering mauve beige neutral
Dusky Mauve No. 203 is a deep brown mauve with satin shimmer
Mulberry No. 204 is a plum red shimmer
Chestnut Brown No. 301 is a deep cool brown shimmer
Storm Grey No. 303 is a shimmering warm grey
Jet Black No. 308 is a richly pigmented matte black
Close ups:
Swatches:
Swatched with a heavy hand (these were swatched with fingers only):
Swatch comparisons of some of the old vs. new shades. The original Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow formulas have numbers with 2 digits, the new Burberry Wet & Dry Silk Eyeshadow formula colors have numbers with 3 digits. Some colors weren’t relaunched in the new version but I pulled a couple to compare.
I was a huge fan of the original Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow formula but somehow they’ve managed to make it new and improved with the Wet & Dry Silk formula. I prefer to apply these dry – the pigment is so good and shows up really well on the lids. I have tried the darker colors wet and the color intensifies if applied wet. I recommend you check out the swatches on Natural N Chic Makeup – she has swatches of more colors on her blog and also shows the effect when used with a damp brush (the pigment is impressive!). Overall I’m pleased with the new formula. I think they are more conservative in the shimmer factor compared to the original formula but the shimmer is still visible. I do prefer the original versions of Pale Barley and Rosewood and am glad I have backups of both. However the new ones are very similar and have a more satiny finish which make them easier to wear for those conservative on shimmer. If you do like a good shimmery shadow there are four Wet & Dry Glow eyeshadows which I reviewed here. I really like that formula and hope Burberry expands the color range in the near future.
Bottom line thumbs up. You can find the Burberry Beauty Wet & Dry Silk Eyeshadows for $29 each at all Burberry Beauty counters. Online at Burberry, Nordstrom, Sephora (just launched!), and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Five of the eyeshadows were provided courtesy of Burberry for review consideration. Four colors were purchased by me.
Today by popular request I’ve compiled a list of what I brought with me on my Europe trip in carry-on form. It’s been over a month since I’ve been back home from our three week trip – sorry it’s taken me so long to publish this post – it took me a while to figure out how to photograph and edit everything. I’m still missing Europe very much and it took me a while to get adjusted back to reality. I hope to go back again very soon.
To recap, my husband and I spent three weeks traveling through Europe. We traveled to 9 cities via 7 flights and one 7 day cruise. It was my husband’s decision that we travel with carry-ons only. His logic behind this decision was based on a number of things: we would avoid long lines at airport check-in, we’d save time from having to wait at baggage claim, we wouldn’t have to worry about lugging heavy suitcases around Europe, and we could try to look less touristy. I had no intention in participating and had plans to pack regular suitcases like normal people do. However after doing a lot of research on airline reviews (there are so many horror stories about bad experiences) I decided to make it work with carry-on bags.
I’ve traveled with carry-on suitcases that fit US Airline standards but European Airlines have different dimension restrictions on luggage. All the options in the US are larger than what European Airlines list as acceptable. I didn’t want to risk it so we decided to go the backpack route. My husband helped research travel backpacks and day packs. He picked out this Pacsafe Venturesafe 45L GII Backpack. It worked to fit all of his clothes, flip flops, and laptop. He’s over 6 feet tall and it worked for him, but I’m 5’3″ so this one didn’t work for me. We looked for one a bit smaller and I opted for the Ultimatesafe 22L version. This combined with my Tumi Voyageur Tote (mine is an old model, current ones here) is what I brought with me on our trip.
These two bags fit all my clothes and makeup. For reference, my two other packing posts for this three-week trip below (note my husband carried his own products in his own bag):
Left backpack fit clothes, flipflops and one makeup pouch
Right tote fit my laptop, electronics cables/cords and earphones + liquids
Inside each of my bags shown above, I used several things to organize and compact my items. If you order items directly from J.Brand they will send denim and tees packed in these nifty black pouches (shown on the far left). I’ve kept them from previous orders and brought 2 of them with me to keep tops in one and jeans in another. I know people usually say roll your clothes. I think it works with regular rectangular shaped suitcases. I found flat packing to be better for me, but there’s really no right or wrong. We also used a number of the Eagle Creek Packing Cubes. I brought three: one small one for electronics, one for clothes, one for small items such as socks, underwear and swimsuits. (My husband brought and packed the Translucent Specter Pack-It Cubes).
Another item I packed was the Eagle Creek RFID-Blocking Undercover Money Belt. I only used this a few days when we did sight-seeing activities where we wanted to be hands free. We used a number of Muji Clear Pouches (featured in this post here) that we found really handy. It kept things organized and easy to find.
Many have asked for a very specific list of everything I brought with me. I’ve split it up into categories to help make things easy to view. First up include electronic devices. I brought multiples of some items since both my husband and I had our phones, laptops and one iPad. For our flight I splurged on the Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones. They were well worth the high price. These make a world of difference and are really great for long flights. I brought one Tumi USB Travel Adapter and several Apple plugs, cords and the World Travel Adapter. For charging I had one for my camera. These Mophie Powerstation Chargers are lifesavers. I brought two and it was definitely worth bringing both of them on our trip. I use them in everyday life too. Having an extra one charged up in my purse is great for times I have super low battery. I kept most of our electronic plugs and cords stored in the smallest size of the Eagle Creek Black Pack Cubes.
Onto the clothes I packed. We spent our first week in Paris and second week in Rome, but my mind was set on our cruise through Greece. Here are the clothes I packed. Most items were thin in material and I’m petite so it was relatively easy to keep everything compact to fit into my backpack. Keep in mind I had one outfit on at all times, so everything pictured below minus one outfit was what was packed in my carry-on.
The tanks and tees worked really well for warm hot weather. The ones I brought were lightweight in material so they folded up easily and didn’t take up a lot of space. I brought two casual dresses with me. In hindsight we both should have brought at least one nice outfit but we kept thinking our vacation would be a relaxing trip. Also if we needed something more formal, we could just buy something in Paris or Rome. Due to the limited luggage space we didn’t buy any clothes. We had to pass on several restaurants we wanted to go to because we didn’t have anything formal enough. In the end though we had a really good time and had lots of fun so it didn’t matter. Next time we know to pack differently.
I brought two sweaters with me and two long-sleeved tees. One tee I threw away on the trip as well because I ripped it and it was beyond saving. J.Crew makes the best long-sleeve tees I’ve tried, they have lots of colors and I like the stripe ones. One soft cardigan was packed on day trips for places I needed to have shoulders covered. In the hot summer heat there were days I would have died if I wore long-sleeves the entire day so having a light weight sweater rolled up in my purse was a lifesaver. I packed one jacket which worked well throughout the trip.
Banana Republic White Woven Moto Jacket (in-store only)
For bottoms, I could have skipped one pair of jeans (probably would have left the white ones at home). Having four pairs of shorts was definitely good for me. I packed one skirt to wear out at night with any of the tops shown above and one pair of yoga shorts to sleep in.
Miscellaneous items include three swimsuits (I could have been fine with two), 1 pair of flip flops and 1 pair of sneakers. Many asked if I thought bringing the Pumas over Nikes was a good idea. Let me first say that I usually hate sneakers. I’m a flats or sandals kind of person, but I needed a good pair of walking shoes for our trip. The Pumas worked really well – they did take 2-3 days to break in. After wearing them for 3 weeks walking hundreds of miles, I have to say that I do like them and give them a thumbs up. If I were to do it over again though, I would have brought Nike sneakers instead. In my experience they just feel a lot better.
For an everyday tote, having something with fully closed zipper at the top was essential. I didn’t have to worry about pick pockets. A simple canvas material is also non-flashy and doesn’t draw unnecessary attention. I opted for the shoulder version which worked just fine. It’s small enough to fit my petite 5’3″ frame but large enough to hold my camera, wallet, water bottle, sweater and then some. Cross-body bags might be a good option if you have a very compact camera. I found it difficult to find one suitable for all my needs so the tote was the next best thing for me.
1 Pair of Flipflops (Havaina Flip Flops shown above, I actually brought a pair of Tory Burch with me, but they were ruined by the end of our trip so I threw them away while we were on our cruise)
I didn’t photograph my socks or underwear but I did bring enough for 10 days worth of wear. In our three weeks away, we did our laundry four times. Twice we hand washed items in our hotel sink. The other two times we had laundry service on our cruise ship. Ideally we could have done laundry once or twice but it was so hot there were
days we went back to our hotel to change mid-day so we went through
clothes quickly.
We made the carry-ons work. I brought one backpack and one tote. My husband brought one backpack. After our first week in Paris we decided to buy one Longchamp Expandable Tote to carry souvenirs and disperse some clothes so they weren’t all squished. It was the largest carry-on tote we could find at a relatively affordable price. The sales rep who helped us said he knew for a fact all European airlines would consider this acceptable so we bought it. I like it because you can unzip it around the middle to expand it. It comes with a large over the detatchable shoulder strap. My husband on the other hand hates it. He prefers bags that have some support, structure or decent pockets. This one is just an open nylon tote. It’s very sturdy and durable but it has no shape so you can fold it and put it away easily.
If we could go back in time and do it all over again there is not much we would change given our itinerary. We had a lot of stops and quite a few flights. I can’t tell you how relieved we were at the airport when we were able to skip lines to check and weigh bags. Most airlines have weight restrictions but as long as your bag doesn’t look heavy we found most didn’t weigh our carry ons. My backpack at the heaviest was 17.3 pounds (most weight limits were around 19-20 pounds). It was a bit challenging but it’s definitely do-able. We would have definitely packed 1-2 nicer outfits. I would have brought one nice pair of shoes. To make room for those I could have skipped a lot of the beauty or skincare items I packed. Paris has so much to offer, I could have relied on pharmacy minis for the entire trip.
Our next trip to Europe will consist of fewer destinations so we will definitely be taking regular suitcases. It was all our flights and stops that made us decide to do carry-ons only. Had we planned to stop in 2-3 places, suitcases would have been the way to go.
I hope you found this post helpful! I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to travel. I know many who travel with carry-ons only all the time and they make it work.
The Sephora Pro team worked in collaboration with Japanese craftsman to launch their hakuho-do + SEPHORA PRO Brush Collection. There are five brushes for the cheeks and face with the initial release. Each brush is sold separately and the presentation and packaging of each brush is quite stunning. According to Sephora:
“This line of brushes is the result of the first ever collaboration
between a beauty company and traditional Hakuho-do craftsmen. Each of
these brushes benefits from the expertise of the Sephora Pro team and is
handmade by highly skilled craftsmen in Japan using the traditional,
200-year-old manufacturing technique. This ensures the highest quality
design, materials, and assembly for astounding results.”
The five brushes are made of a synthetic material. In addition they are not tested on animals and cruelty-free. The brushes and descriptions from Sephora:
Kusabi Wedge Sloping Powder Brush $54: A large angled powder brush with a brand-new shape developed by the Sephora Pro team for the self-application of powder, bronzer, or for neck shading.
Ougi Fan Cheek Brush $40: A universal blush brush to apply blush, contour, or for a natural, no-makeup look.
Kusuriyubi Angled Concealer Brush $30: A multitasking brush with angled shape for allover eye shadow, cream eye shadow, undereye concealer, and highlighting.
I’ve been playing with these brushes for the last month. I was a bit skeptical about how they would perform with powders since the brushes are made of a synthetic blend but they perform very well. Each brush appears to have been crafted with great care. The handles are sturdy, well balanced in weight and the perfect length to fit into my hand without feeling too small or too large. The longest ones are about 7 inches in length – they are all pretty similar in terms of how long they are. In addition, the handles have a tapered shape so it allows for a better grip. The bristles are extremely soft and evenly distributed. The craftsmanship is excellent. My thoughts on each one below.
Up first is my favorite of the five: the Kusuriyubi Angled Concealer Brush. It’s designed for concealer but I think it is a multi-tasking brush. It’s quite dense and the perfect width. Most concealer brushes are either too wide/flat or too small/skinny. This one is perfect for blending concealer under the eye. It also works well with both powder and cream shadows. It’s extremely soft even though it’s dense – the shape is perfect and there is no poking whatsoever. I’ve shown it below to an Edward Bess and Cle de Peau Beaute concealer for size reference (thoughts + swatches here in case you are interested). I do think it’s worth buying a second one to keep separate for eye products. It’s dense enough to use as a detail highlighter for the eyes as well.
Next up are the Ougi Fan Cheek Brush and Kusabi Wedge Sloping Brush. The Ougi Fan Cheek Brush is the smaller one shown on the left. I placed it next to a Tom Ford Blush for size reference. This one is supposed to be a multi-tasking brush for powder, contour or bronzer. I thought the name “fan” to be odd because it’s not fan-shaped at all – however it does fan out a little when you press it to your face. This was the one I was least excited about simply because it looks so slim – but it really surprised me. I tried it with several super pigmented blushes and it picked up just the right amount of color to give a smooth even application. Since it’s a synthetic material and slim I thought I’d try it with foundation too – it works surprisingly well to blend liquids into a flawless finish on the skin.
The Kusabi Wedge Sloping Brush is a powder brush. It has an angled tip that has a very slight slope. This one is designed for powder, bronzer or neck shading. I didn’t like this for all over face powders (pressed or loose). I found it didn’t pick up enough powder for my entire face – the shape and angle made application feel odd. For bronzer on the other hand it’s amazing. The sloped shape makes it glide along the side of the face easily. For bronzers it picks up just the right amount of product to apply to the cheeks. It blends powders beautifully. Given the fact that I usually use powder brushes for bronzer though I don’t think this one is a must.
Below are a couple quick front versus side views of the three brushes mentioned above so you can see the tapered angle/shape the Wedge Sloping and Angled Concealer brushes have:
The last two brushes are the tapered teardrop ones. They are both extremely soft and plush. The Large Teardrop Pointed Powder Brush isn’t as dense as the others in the collection. It is a super soft almost fluffy-feeling brush. Since it’s not quite as dense it will give the face more of a sheer wash of color if you use bronzer or highlighter. I would recommend this one over the Wedge Sloping Brush if you wanted to narrow down your picks. It has a similar function but performs better.
The Small Teardrop Pointed Highlighter Brush is similar in shape but smaller and more dense. It has a similar shape and size compared to the Charlotte Tilbury Powder & Sculpt Brush. The Sephora Pro brush does the job in terms of picking up highlighter for the cheek bone area or cheek sculpting but I find the Charlotte Tilbury far superior. It picks up powder product better while the synthetic material of the Sephora Pro brush works, it’s just not as good in my experience.
A few comparisons below to Wayne Goss and Charlotte Tilbury brushes for size reference:
Overall these exceeded my expectations, especially considering they are synthetic brushes and I don’t usually like synthetic material for powders. They performed really well with face and cheek powder products and I’m really impressed with the quality and craftsmanship. Each brush is well designed and although they are on the pricey side they are very well made. I’ve accumulated a number of brushes over the years – it’s only recently that I started using Japanese brushes because they are usually so expensive. The ones I’ve tested that are made in Japan are far superior to any other brushes I’ve tried. These are no exception. Still the synthetic material for powders is new to me. I would say the Concealer Brush and Large Teardrop Brushes are the two I would recommend the most. I’ve already ordered a second of the concealer brush. The Fan Cheek brush surprised me – it performs really well for powder blush and foundation, but since I already own a number of blush and foundation brushes I can’t call it a must-have. I do like it a lot though. For the other two I would say skip – however they are extremely well made and soft.
Have you checked out these brushes yet? If not do you have any favorite synthetic brushes in your collection? If you’re curious on how to use these, Sephora has short videos on how to use each brush online.
Tom Ford Beauty has some exciting new releases for fall. It appears new products are launching in a few mini collections, up first is a focus on face makeup for flawless and glowing skin. New products include:
Today I have a review of the gorgeous highlighter duo in Moodlight. I ordered mine online as soon as it popped up for pre-order and it arrived a couple of weeks ago. Moodlight is a powder duo. It comes in the large rectangular Tom Ford compact with a soft iridescent opal white shade and a medium bronzey peach pink champagne. The texture is very soft and easy to blend. Pigment is buildable but visible on the skin. The shimmer is pretty strong in both shades but on me the duo glows without that garish frost. The powders are embossed with the prettiest cross-hatch pattern and TF initials.
The colors have this beautiful mix of pigments. It makes the skin glow in a youthful way. I suspect on fair skintones, the light shade will be more subtle as it will match your skin and the bronzey shade will look more like a darker bronze. On my medium skin the light color shows up as a gorgeous opal highlight and the bronzey shade appears like a soft peachy bronze contour blush highlight. Darker skintones will see more contrast. The colors are truly stunning – I think this is going to be a universally flattering palette – it will look gorgeous no matter what skintone. Some more photos and swatches below.
Many have asked for a number of comparisons. I’ve pulled two batches for what I could fit on my arm. My personal thoughts on highlighter are that you can never have enough glow. The Tom Ford Skin Illuminating Duo gives that perfect glow-from-within combination. It mimics the effect Armani Fluid Sheers have minus the oily-overly-dewy factor you can get with warm weather.
NARS Multiple in St. Lucia (discontinued, reviewed here)
___________
The swatches and photos can’t do Tom Ford’s Skin Illuminating Powder Duo in Moodlight justice. I’ve swatched it with a heavy hand to show you the color and complexity but it is easy to blend and on the skin it’s not overly shimmery or frosty. If you ask me if I think it’s a must-have I say absolutely yes. It’s like the now-discontinued Burberry Fresh Glow Powders minus the garish frost. If you want my thoughts on what the closest dupe is, I would say that the Edward Bess All Over Seduction Highlighters give the most similar effect but they are creams and slightly more dewy while the Tom Ford is a powder and more shimmery. Here it is applied on the cheeks. On the lips is Spanish Pink. On the eyes is the Nude Dip quad. For skintone reference I’m wearing the Traceless Perfecting Foundation in Natural #5.
I’ve been playing with Moodlight for several days now. It’s a good highlighter that isn’t overly frosted. It gives a youthful glow + subtle color. I like adding a bit of blush or bronzer for more color, but at my skintone right now I find I can wear it alone. (I wear Tom Ford Traceless Perfecting in Shade 5 Natural now, when I’m lighter I wear Shade 4 Bisque, swatches of all colors here + review on Shade 4 here).
There seem to be a number of new highlighters that have launched this season. Since I’m a huge highlighter fan I can’t pick just one as my favorite. I do think the Tom Ford Moodlight is a winner and backup-worthy. It lasts all day without getting too glowy-looking. I like that it’s a powder with a slight creamy finish so it adheres well to the skin. Also a huge plus is the fact that it doesn’t emphasize pores (at least on me). I give it a huge thumbs up. It’s mega expensive but worth every penny.
The Tom Ford Skin Illuminating Powder Duo comes in one shade Moodlight. It retails for $80 and is limited-edition. Available now at Tom Ford Beauty counters. Online at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue and Tom Ford.
Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week – mine was a very long one and I’m glad it’s almost the weekend. A few things I’m loving right now are summery-themed.
Glossier Coconut Balm Dotcom $12 is described as a “vacation in a tube.” It does indeed smell like a dreamy vacation with a delicious coconut scent. It’s Glossier’s do-anything skin salve for the lips, eyes, cheeks or cuticles – basically anywhere you need an added moisture boost. It’s very creamy so I’ve only been brave enough to test it on the lips and so far I love it. It’s hydrating, soothing and smells incredible.
Tom Ford Fleur de Portofino $215 was one of my biggest summer splurges. It’s a summery white floral citrus. Similar to the Neroli Portofino and Mandarino di Amalafi but with a floral twist to it. It’s bright and very rich. Lasts all day on me and makes me feel like I’m at the beach. If you own either of the others I would say you probably don’t need the Fleur de Portofino as they are similar. There are noticeable differences, the original Neroli is the strongest and more unisex, Mandarino is the most citrus, Fleur has floral notes which I like the most.
Supergoop! Sun-Defying Sunscreen Oil Broad Spectrum SPF 50 $12-34 has been in regular rotation. The concept of a sunscreen in oil form is new to me. I’m super hesitant about trying new sunscreens in general but this one has been gentle enough for me to wear without any irritation or reaction. It’s meant for both the face and body but I haven’t been brave enough to test it on the face.
Chanel Tutti Frutti $27 is my favorite coral pink nail color for summer. It’s been on my nails a lot lately. I plan on getting a pedicure this weekend for the toes.
Smith & Cult recently launched Lip Lacquers $22 each. I’ve been testing a few that I ordered sight unseen. They are all relatively sheer in finish but have a lush glossy shine to them with a hint of color. My personal favorite is Her Name Is Bubbles (in large part because I like the name). I’ll have a more detailed feature soon on the glosses but for now below are a few swatches. You can find them at Neiman Marcus, Net-A-Porter, Birchbox. If you want to see Her Name is Bubbles on the lips, you can see it in my peachy makeup loves post.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend! What have you been loving this summer?
The Glossier Lip Balm was provided as a courtesy sample for review. All other items purchased by me.
Becca x Jaclyn Hill teamed up to create a Pressed Shimmering Skin Perfector in Champagne Pop ($38 for 8 g / 0.28 oz, limited-edition, exclusive to Sephora). The shimmering skin perfector comes in a round mirrored compact in powder form but it’s very soft and buttery – it almost has a creamy texture to it. The color is described as a soft white gold with pinky peach undertones and it’s exactly how it appears on my skin. In the pot it’s this gorgeous luminous peachy gold champagne shimmer on the skin it pulls a bit more cool-toned than what I see in the compact. It is very complex in color and the powder shifts depending on how the light hits the shimmer particles. The color is super pigmented so you only need a tiny bit. I love how easy it is to blend. It gives a very visible and noticeable highlight. If you want something subtle this is not the product for you. I did find it went on the cheeks smoothly. It blends into this dreamy soft glow if you buff or blend it out. Huge plus is that it doesn’t emphasize pores. I have tons of highlighters in all forms and I find this one to be very special and quite amazing.
Pictures can’t do this Becca x Jaclyn Hill highlighter justice. I’ve taken a few photos to show the complexity but it’s something you have to see in person to really understand how gorgeous it is. Below in direct sunlight. I would say this shot is the closest to getting what the color looks like once on the skin.
At an angle, it looks more peachy. The peachy champagne base color helps add depth and dimension to the highlighter:
Close up of all the shimmers:
On the skin it’s more of a white-gold like the Sephora description:
I swatched the Becca Champagne Pop highlighter next to the Charlotte Tilbury Norman Parkinson Highlighter, Hourglass Luminous Light and NARS Tribulation Blush in this post here.
I pulled a few more to compare.
Tom Ford Stroked Contouring Cheek Colour Duo (discontinued, review here)
Estee Lauder Courreges Illuminations Face Powder (limited-edition)
One last shot with partial sunlight reflecting from the mirror to show the complexity of the powder:
Bottom line a winner. I give it a huge thumbs up. The powder has a finely milled texture and although it is very shimmery and very pigmented it blends easily onto the skin. You only need a tiny bit to highlight the cheeks or eyes. I found lasting power to be quite good – it stayed put from morning to late evening and it adheres well to the skin. Since it is so pigmented I recommend using a very loose fluffy brush to apply on the cheeks. I’ve been using either a Stila Powder Brush (one I got years ago with the silver handle, I don’t think they make it anymore) or my MAC Duo Fibre Brush #187 to apply it. I didn’t experience fall out on the face since my skin was well prepped with a layer of serum, moisturizer and foundation. On my arm swatches I didn’t have any product so there was a bit of product that fell off my brush in a few fly-aways.
Overall gorgeous. I highly recommend it unless you’re a fan of the ultra-subtle-almost-invisible shimmer because this one will probably be too shimmery for you. The Becca x Jaclyn Hill Shimmering Skin Perfector in Champagne Pop is limited-edition. Currently exclusive to Sephora. Starting August 10th Sephora is launching their Epic Rewards Perks. One of the 1,000 Point Perks is a Becca set that will include Champagne Pop although I can’t tell if it’s full-sized.
Have you tried Becca highlighters? Which ones are your favorites? I still own some from the days where they had the loose versions in the larger sifter containers.
