2017

NARS

NARS x Man Ray Collection for Holiday

October 20, 2017

NARS has seriously outdone themselves with their NARS x Man Ray holiday launch this year. This season they’ve launched a collection of individual colors, palettes and sets inspired by modern artist Man Ray. This is one of the first makeup launches that has me really excited about holiday – they’ve created a nice range of options so I think there is something for everyone. The collection launched exclusively at NARS online for the first part of October and now items are starting to trickle in at other counters. There’s quite a bit in this collection and I’m thrilled to be able to feature a lot of the items, but do note there are other sets and items available exclusive to certain retailers like Nordstrom and Sephora. You may have to do some shopping around to find the color sets you have your eyes on.

I’ve split my review into product category: eyes, cheeks and lips + one set. For the eyes this season we have shadows and pencils:

Duo Eyeshadow in Debauched ($36) is a richly pigmented duo of cool-toned plums. There is a smooth plum shimmer and a blackened purple with tiny violet glitter flecks. Both have good smooth pigment, the deeper shade is probably best applied in a patting motion or liner.
Duo Eyeshadow in Montparnasse ($36) has a smooth texture of shimmers with a soft warm pale gold champagne shimmer and maroon shimmer. Both swatch well with good pigment, but on my eyes the plum shade applies on the semi-sheer side once blended. To get more pigment you either have to pack it on over a cream shadow or with a dense brush.
Velvet Eyeliner in Nagoya ($24) is one of the most beautiful violet cream shades I’ve ever seen but it’s a color I don’t see myself wearing on the eyes. Application is a bit sheer but the color is so pretty!
Velvet Eyeliner in Santiago ($24) is a sheer shimmering auburn color, it makes for a good subtle liner for the lower lash line to add definition without looking harsh. However formula is sheer which I find a bit odd for a liner where I usually think you’d want more intense pigment.
Eyeshadow Palette Glass Tears (not shown)

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For the cheeks we have beautiful highlighters, blushes and a stunning palette:

Powder Blush in Fetishized ($30) is a bright warm reddish pink, but once applied it’s not quite as warm or red as it looks in the pan. It has a subtle sheen to it but the pigment overall is very intense. I could not pull this one off alone but it looks amazing as a layering or mixing color, especially if you soften with a highlighter or warm it up with bronzer.
Powder Blush in Intensely ($30) is a very smooth matte semi-sheer orange cream color. Texture is dreamy and soft with flawless application. I often find orange blushes surprising because they can actually be quite flattering and different than what you’d expect. On my skintone alone this one just looked like orange candy, almost like Tic-Tacs. Again this is a great one for layering to warm up colors or even mixed with a highlighter. That’s the beauty of a lot of NARS colors – you can layer and mix and the result is often really pretty.
Overexposed Glow Highlighter in Double Take ($42) is a stunning highlighter, it’s all kinds of gorgeous with the warm gold with slight peachy tones. It has a smooth almost creamy feel with intense shimmer that you can blend out or layer for that super shimmery highlight. Swatch comparisons below to the Banc de Sable shades and some from Dior.
The Veil Cheek Palette with Laguna, Lovesick, Surreal ($49) is another beautiful color and if I had to pick one thing from the entire collection it would be this palette. Laguna is the Sun Wash formula which is a stiffer almost hybrid kind of formula. The full size ended up being a bit muddy on me, but as most NARS fans know – the Laguna individually (regardless of formula) isn’t always the same as the ones you get in the palettes. The palette Laguna is still very stiff and sheer, but it’s not quite as muddy. Lovesick is like a dual-intensity blush formula and is a rich coral with a sheen. It’s almost identical to the powder blush Fetishized but the formula makes it more wearable. Surreal is a similar formula to the Banc de Sable palette and the Overexposed Double Take Highlighter. It’s intense with a pretty peachy tan shimmer.

Beauty breakdown:

Foundation is La Prairie Skin Caviar Concealer and Foundation in Satin Nude (review coming soon)
Concealer is NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger
Powder is La Mer Pressed Powder in Light
Cheeks are NARS x Man Ray The Veil Cheek Palette, all three shades in Laguna, Lovesick and Surreal applied with a very light hand
Eyeshadow is Montparnasse Eyeshadow Duo
Lips is NARS Audacious Lipstick in Barbara
Brush shown is Wayne Goss #14 from The Face Set (reviewed here)
Nail polish is Diorific Ruby

Some highlighter swatch comparisons below. If you own Banc de Sable the new holiday highlighters have a very similar effect in terms of formula, texture and shimmer. Colors are close and similar but not identical. I’ve also included two of the Diorskin Nude Air Luminizers (all on my face here). The NARS vs Dior both have that intense shimmer but smooth almost creamy feel (yet they are still powders).

Update 10/21: I re-swatched the comparisons with a denser brush. The original comparisons above looked a little washed out due to the curve of my arm combined with blending using a larger brush. A more dense application shows that Surreal is closer in color to Embruns than it looks when it’s blended out more. Same order below just swatched with a MAC 239 brush.

This year the Becca x Chrissy Teigen palette has been my favorite face palette launch (review + beauty look here). It’s wearable, easy to layer and I love the color combinations. At first glance I thought the NARS might be exactly the same, but it’s deeper, warmer and a bit more intense. If I had to pick one it would be a tough call. Both are extremely versatile and you can increase or soften intensity depending on what brushes you use or how much you layer product.

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For the lips, the Man Ray collection has four glosses in a new formula called Photogloss Lip Lacquer then there are lots of sets with a mix of colors:

There’s a new formula called Photogloss Lip Lacquer ($26 each) which is super opaque and glossy without being thick or tacky-feeling. These have serious pigment and smooth finish. Lasting power is excellent for a gloss and there was no color bleeding along the sides.

Photogloss Lip Lacquer in Zambeze is a yellowed-beige cream
Photogloss Lip Lacquer in Off Limits is a bright sparkling fuchsia purple
Photogloss Lip Lacquer in Kiki is a blood-red semi-sheer, the sheerness made it a tiny bit streaky looking, it can be smoothed out if you apply over a liner or lipstick
Photogloss Lip Lacquer in Muse is a shimmering gold, the color and shimmer was a bit patchy looking once applied but there is no gritty texture and you can blend it out for a smoother finish

The Kiss Velvet Matte Lip Pencil Set ($49, Sephora exclusive) has four full-sized Velvet Matte Lip Pencils, I really love this set – they look better in person than in these photos. Pigment is smooth with a soft matte finish. They have a very airy feel to them and glide on the lips nicely. Lasting power is about average for a lipstick, they will fade after a few hours and transfer to cups if you drink, but I don’t mind reapplying. This set comes in a shiny gold zippered pouch:
- Endangered Red is a soft muted deep vampy red
- Spellbound is a pretty shimmering pale pink
- Toundra is a muted plum-brown with shimmer
- Wild Ways is a shimmering soft tan bronze

Audacious Lip Coffrett in Noire Et Blanche, not shown ($55, Sephora exclusive) with Lee, Dolores, Josephine and Charlotte Audacious Lipsticks
Audacious Lip Coffrett in Les Amoureux ($55, Nordstrom exclusive) with pretty neutrals that aren’t boring. I had forgotten how much I loved this formula of lipstick, Barbara was a staple for a long time for me. I need to use it more often. The lipsticks in these sets are miniature sized. The coffretts come in a round dome case.
- Ady light peachy orange cream
- Ardon medium rose
- Jane coral
- Barbara perfect nude pink beige

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Then there are a number of duos with minis called Love Triangle ($24 each). Different color combinations are available at different retailers. I have the Deep Throat + Barbara duo which is available at Sephora. These aren’t full-sized, they’re minis and I think they’re great options for stocking stuffers or something under the $25 mark.

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That wraps it up for my look at NARS x Man Ray for holiday. There’s a lot to pick from! My top picks include The Veil Cheek Palette trio, Double Take Highlighter, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil Set and the Audacious Lipstick Set. Quality and pigment is on point for everything except the two Velvet Eyeliners (a bit sheer) and the gold lip gloss (just a bit patchy-looking on application). The blushes are excellent quality but for me require layering to work, alone they don’t quite look right on my olive skintone but they are beautiful if you mix them.

All the items are limited-edition. You can find them available now although you’ll have to do some hunting to find all the pieces as some are exclusive to certain places. Online now at NARS, Nordstrom, and Sephora. They should arrive at other retailers very soon.

Have you tried anything from the collection yet? What did you think?

NARS x Man Ray items provided courtesy of NARS for review.

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Christian Louboutin Fragrance

Christian Louboutin Parfums – New Sizes

October 19, 2017

Last fall Christian Louboutin launched three perfumes in Tornade Blonde, Bikini Questa Sera and Trouble in Heaven. I was able to review Tornade Blonde here. This has been one of the most luxurious perfumes with the strongest lasting power that I’ve tried. Those who have followed me along on with my what’s in my bag features and Instagram stories know that I tend to prefer smaller sizes so I can carry them with me to touch up or bring them on travels. The original sizes were 2.7 oz/80 ml ($275 each) which came in a large exquisite bottle perfect for display or to but on your counter top but not one that you could carry around easily. One year later they’ve added a new smaller size 1 oz/30 ml ($135 each) and while they aren’t roller-ball small, they are more travel friendly. The perfumes are available individually but I was gifted all three in a special box and am beyond grateful for the opportunity to try all three.

First a quick look at sizing for scale, one next to a Loubilaque lipgloss (review + swatches here and here) and one in my hand:

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Tornade Blonde is a rich warm floral with some spice to it. It’s the one that feels more for special occasions for me. Notes include Rhubarb, Violet Leaves, Ambrette Signature, Cassis, Bulgarian Rose, Jasmin Sambac Absolut, Orange Flower Petals Firnat, Gardenia from Brazil, Ambregris, Cedarwood, Australian Sandalwood, Patchouli. It’s extremely potent with a rich garden-like feel to it.

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Bikini Questa Sera is my favorite of the three. It’s the most green out of the options with notes of Paradisone, Green Nectars, Jasmin Absolut, Tuberose Absolut, Australian Sandalwood, Vetiver Haiti, Ambregris. As one who really loves tuberose it’s no surprise that this one I’d gravitate towards. If you like Frederic Malle Carnal Flower but want something with a different twist you might want to consider trying this one. The Louboutin Bikini Questa Sera has a similar vibe but it’s less powdery and less floral than Carnal Flower.

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Trouble in Heaven is another rich option with notes of Bergamot, Cascalone, Rose Bouton, Iris Firabs, Amber, Patchouli, Tonka Absolut, Labdanum. There’s a strong amber and patchouli feel making this feel very warm and very spicy. To me it smells feminine but pulls on the masculine side a little – it’s an intoxicating seductive kind of scent that doesn’t feel like one for everyday but more for date nights.

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All three have extremely long lasting power. They stayed on my skin from the first spritz until late evening. As scent and fragrance preferences are really so personal my recommendation would depend on your preferences for notes and overall feel. These are true to Louboutin’s branding – rich, warm and bold. For everyday I personally tend to gravitate towards lighter scent options. With the extreme heat of Florida I’ve found that since moving here I cannot wear warmer scents and many of my florals during the day simply because the heat shifts how these wear on my skin. It has finally started to cool down a little (only a little) so I’ve been able to pull out a few fall transition scents. For me these Louboutin perfumes are more special occasion kinds of wear. Back in San Diego by now I would have 100% been able to wear at least one of these for day, but for now in Florida I find Bikini Questa Sera to be best for me while the other two will be saved for winter.

If you’re interested in these but don’t want to splurge on the full sizes quite yet they still have the adorable miniatures trio set available (they don’t come with spritzers though). These are a great way to try all three or keep one in your purse for touch ups.

You can find Christian Louboutin Parfums available now in both sizes. Online at Christian Louboutin, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sephora and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Have you tried these yet? If not what’s your go-to perfume right now? I’d love to hear about what you are wearing right now!

Perfumes gifted by Christian Louboutin Beauty.

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Charlotte Tilbury

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Palette Smokey Eye Beauty

October 17, 2017

Charlotte Tilbury just launched her fourth Instant Look in a Palette in a neutral-cool toned option called the Smokey Eye Beauty. This is currently a Beautylish exclusive and in terms of color options this is one of the deeper ones that she has launched. The colors themselves are pretty basic and standard but the quality is on point and colors are easy to use so it makes for a good everyday option.

These Instant Look in a Palettes are designed for a basic five minute face. They have enough colors that you can do a quick look with or use on-the-go. In concept the number of colors in the palette is just the right amount for a full look for makeup color (minus base, concealer, lips, mascara, brows etc.). I’ve found that I still need 2 more eye products to really finish the look for me as I tend to do a lot of blending and I need some kind of creamy shadow stick as a base to help the powders adhere or blend better. My previous reviews of the other three linked with Natural Beauty, Seductive Beauty and Beauty Glow.

Smokey Eye Beauty has three eyeshadows, one bronzer, two cheek colors and one highlighter. The top three eyeshadows include a pale champagne shimmer, medium cool brown matte, dark matte black with navy tinge. All three are extremely smooth and well pigmented. They are easy to blend and apply but they are on the powdery side with powder kick up. The contour bronzer is a light to medium brown, it has a subtle sheen to it which makes it natural looking. It’s cool-toned on my skin. The two cheek colors are a light warm pink and a medium warm pink, both soft and also natural looking. The highlighter is a pale gold which is supposed to be the Bar of Gold. I never tried it so I can’t compare it to the original. This one has a stiffer texture which makes it look sheer on my skin. Long-time readers know how I feel about yellow golds. This one is pale enough that you can’t really see the yellow tone once on the skin so for me it’s actually a lot more wearable than I anticipated just from looking at it in the pan.

Below wearing:

Foundation is MILK Makeup Blur Liquid Matte Foundation in Golden Sand
Concealer under eyes is MILK Makeup Flex Concealer in Medium
Powder to set is the La Mer Loose Powder in Translucent
Cheeks + Eyes are the Smokey Eye Beauty Palette
Lip Color is Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Pillow Talk + Miss Bloomingdale mixed
Nail Polish is Diorific Ruby (review here)
Top from H&M

Bottom line a solid performer. Colors, texture and pigment are all very wearable. As with powders there will be some powdery-ness and kick up, this one seems to have a little more than most but it wasn’t problematic. Color-wise the shades to me aren’t the most unique or exciting but they show up in a natural and soft way that is 100% wearable. I do think the combination of colors is great for ease of use. Sometimes an effortless palette is just what I need – this one is versatile enough to wear for a number of occasions and will go with all kinds of lip colors, light, deep, warm and cool. I give it a thumbs up. I will be reviewing the Instant Eye Palette soon (waiting on my order) – reviews have been really mixed, so it will be interesting to test this in person.

You can find the Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Palette Smokey Eye Beauty exclusively at Beautylish right now. It retails for $75.

Thanks to Beautylish for sending this to me to review.

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Base Makeup Dior Highlighters

Dior Makeup Holiday, Lip + Base Haul

October 13, 2017

I have a collective haul post today with some Dior bits. Over the past few months I’ve been using a lot of their base products and found some new favorites. Some mini collections have launched new products such as the Rouge Dior Liquid Lip and Metalizer for Eyes that I’ve been testing. So many of you have asked about the Rouge Dior Liquid Lip Stains and I picked out two (thoughts below). Holiday has also launched and I picked up three items from the collection to review today. So there’s a little bit of everything in today’s roundup post. I hauled these items from both Nordstrom and Sephora but you should be able to find most everything at all Dior counters now (I think holiday is still trickling in stores).

For holiday Dior has a mix of items with shimmers and mattes. The eyeshadow palettes look gorgeous in the formulas but colors aren’t really up my alley like they were in previous years so I limited my picks to three things:

Diorskin Nude Air Luminizer in Precious Rocks 001 is one of the smoothest shimmer highlighters I’ve tried. It’s so unique with an opalescent shimmer quality. To me it has a pinkish beige tinge and depending on how the light catches it, sometimes it will look more warm/gold but if you see it in person I think you’ll see it’s definitely more pink. On my olive medium tone skin this has a light opal pink finish. If you are fair this may look more peachy/deeper on you. When I first swatched it I thought it was going to be a near dupe for the regular Nude Air Luminizer in 002 but it’s not (comparisons below).
Diorific Matte Fluid Lip & Cheek Velvet Colour in Charm is something I had high hopes for since last year’s options were just perfect and festive for holiday. I picked up one shade in Charm which is different from last year’s Charm. This year is a nude pink but it dries down to a dusty finish. If you are lighter in complexion than me or darker I think it will look more flattering. On me it just makes me look a little dead. Drydown is nice for a matte, but it’s more of a satiny matte.
Diorific Vernis Nail Lacquer in Ruby is a metallic pink ruby red and the shimmer is smooth and free of brush strokes. It has some pink which gives it a more youthful effect compared to a traditional red.

Comparisons below to some older Dior Highlighters, turns out I had Glowing Gardens from a million years ago in my backup stash.

Additional pink highlighter comparison swatches to Laura Mercier Face Illuminator in Devotion, By Terry Compact Expert in #3, Diorskin Nude Air Glowing Gardens 001 in Glowing Pink (discontinued), Diorskin Nude Air Luminizer 001, 002 and 004.

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I’ve been a long-time fan of the Dior Airflash Foundation but anyone who has tried it knows it’s one that takes a bit of time to apply. I tried some other foundations and concealers from the line and love everything I’ve bought. My base picks and testing include:

Diorskin Forever Perfect Foundation in 21 and 31 – this isn’t a new formula but for some reason it escaped my radar for a long time. I’ve featured it in my summer base edit here. I matched myself and in store 30 was perfect. When I got home I applied it and found it oxidized a full shade darker and looked very pink. I went back and found that 21 and 31 have a more yellow undertone and since I tan easily (and loose my tan just as easily) I decided on both to mix the colors. The formula is medium but buildable to full coverage and looks natural. It holds up well in the humidity here and I love the way it covers everything up evenly.
Diorskin Forever Perfect Cushion Foundation in 21 and 30 – this was a newer launch last month in the US and is one of the best in-between cushions for coverage. Most cushions I’ve tried are either very sheer or very opaque. This is a good in the middle option. Colors are very limited though – I wish they would expand the line! I was lucky to find two matches. Again I picked out two shades 21 and 30 (since they don’t have a 31).
Diorskin Forever Undercover Concealer in 30 and 31 – is also a new launch, I can’t remember the last time I tried a Dior concealer so I can’t compare this to others, but this has impressive coverage with smooth creamy texture. It is similar to NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer but the Dior isn’t quite as creamy or emollient and it has a slightly more matte finish. I use this both under the eyes and on spots. 30 is more neutral and 31 is more yellow.

Additional misc items below, I saved the worst for last. Sorry to be harsh but these weren’t up my alley. I had such high hopes for these too!

Rouge Dior Liquid Lip Stain in Vibrant Metal and Delicate Satin – I am a huge fan of the Rouge Dior Brilliant Lipshine & Care Couture Colour so I thought I’d like these. There are a few finishes: Satin, Matte and Metal. I knew I wouldn’t like the mattes so I tried the other two. The Vibrant Metal shade looks so pretty in the tube and swatched on the hand but on my lips it’s like I straight up applied this hideous copper orange foil onto my face. Delicate Satin is a more wearable color and I actually like it for a warm neutral rose pink brown. I just find the formula too airy and mousse-like, it has that silicone powdery feel which I don’t like on the lips. It also wears off really easily. I suspect that matte ones wear better but since I really don’t like mattes on my lips because they make them look like raisins I passed.
Metalizer Eyes & Lips Cream Shadow in Platine Fusion – is a metallic cream shadow that you can use on the lips or eyes. I felt these were best suited for eyes. It has a very fluid texture in a squeeze tube that doesn’t retain its shape well. The color is swatched in the top swatch photo and you can see the color is very standard and basic. I will say that it does have great lasting power – once you put it on it doesn’t budge, but I’m just not the biggest fan of the finish (it is sheer but buildable) and the packaging style just wasn’t my cup of tea.

One last look wearing the following items:

Foundation is Diorskin Forever Perfect Foundation in 21 and 31 mixed
Concealer under eyes and around nose is Diorskin Forever Undercover Concealer in 30
Powder to set is the La Mer Loose Powder
Highlighter is the Diorskin Nude Air Luminizer in Precious Rocks 001 on the cheeks
Eyeshadow is the Metalizer Eyes & Lips Cream Shadow in Platine Fusion
Lip Color Rouge Dior Liquid Lip Stain in Delicate Satin (also shown in this post here)
Mascara is the L’Oreal Lash Paradise Waterproof
Nothing on the brows because I forgot to do them!

You can find the Dior items online and in store now. I bought holiday items from Nordstrom and some other items from Sephora. So far I’ve only seen Dior Holiday online at Nordstrom, Dior.com and Neiman Marcus but it should be up on other sites soon!

Have you tried the Dior foundations or concealers yet? If not what’s your current favorite? If you picked up anything from holiday let me know!

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Holiday Gift Guide Ulta

Cute Affordable Gift Sets From Ulta + Benefit

October 11, 2017

This is probably the first year that I’ve seen holiday collections and sets out this early and I’m excited to be able to share my first holiday gift guide/review with you today! I’ve teamed up with Ulta Beauty to give you a look at four affordable gift sets from Benefit. There are a lot more options to choose from online and in store and the best two things are 1) they are all under $60 and 2) the packaging is fun and festive so there’s no extra work required to wrap it up. The four I’m featuring today include:

Cable Car Cuties ($19 – Ulta exclusive)
Beauty and the Bay ($39 – Ulta exclusive)
GALifornia Love ($29 – Ulta exclusive)
The Great BROWnanza Blockbuster Set ($59)

Up first is the Cable Car Cuties Set which has three minis of the Rockateur Rose Gold Blush, Gimme Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel in Shade 3, POREfessional Face Primer. This is an Ulta exclusive and is great for an affordable stocking stuffer set or for holiday gift exchanges. All three items are easy to wear and can be a fun way to test things out. This was my first time testing out Rockateur and it’s one of the prettiest soft rose blushes I’ve tried – truly natural and doesn’t darken on the skin.

Up next includes the Beauty and the Bay Set which has 4 full-size items and one mini. This one is on the left with the High Brow Highlight & Lift Pencil, They’re Real! Mascara in Jet Black, Hoola Matte Bronzer, High Beam Liquid Face Highlighter Mini. Hoola is one of the most under-rated matte bronzers (in my opinion).

GALifornia Love Set has a full-size Roller Lash Super Curling and Lifting Mascara in Black, full-size Gimme Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel in Shade 3 and a mini GALifornia Sunny Golden Pink Blush. It’s been a while since I tried Benefit blushes and have to say I’m really impressed with the finish and quality, especially for the price. GALifornia smells like candy peaches (in a good way). Whenever I ask for mascara recs a lot of you mention the Roller Lash and I finally tried it – pretty impressed that it had no smudging and was truly a deep rich black color. No clumping either!

Beauty and the Bay Set swatches, I swatched Hoola with a very heavy hand, on the face I promise it doesn’t look this dark. If you’re ultra fair definitely checkout their Hoola-Lite, I’ve tried that one too and it’s the best light colored non-grey non-orangey powder bronzer I’ve tried.

GALifornia Love set swatches:

Last but not least is the Great BROWnanza Blockbuster Set which is a great value for the price. If you’re brow novice and don’t know what formula works best for you this is a great way to try all the different formulas. It’s priced at $59 but the retail value is $151. Note there are two shade options in 3 and 5. I picked up the 5 for darker hair.

Long-time readers know I’m a super minimalist when it comes to brows – I have thick dark hair but my brows are lighter in color so I struggle with whether I should match color to my brows, or my hair or somewhere in between. I’m still learning and do think brow application gets better with practice. I tried all the brow items in the set and my top two picks are the Gimme Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel (it’s so easy to use!) and the Brow Zings set because it comes with a usable travel applicator and the cutest mini tweezers. The Ka-Brow! gives me the most coverage and fills in the best, the Brow Pencil is easiest to use for precise feathering layering. The spoolie is a really good one and I don’t know why I didn’t find it sooner.

Here’s a quick look at the Benefit Hoola and the Brow Zings Shade 5. On the left photo you’ll see half my face is before with just my base (powder, concealer and foundation) and the other side has a more polished look with the Brow Zings and Hoola on the cheeks. On the lips is MAC Lipglass in N-U-D-E over Lip Pencil in Boldly Bare.

Lots of cute options to pick from! Do you have any Benefit favorites? You can find all these sets now online and in stores at Ulta.

Thanks to Ulta for partnering to sponsor this post!

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By Terry

By Terry Compact-Expert and Stylo-Expert Review + Swatches

October 9, 2017

By Terry launched several new products for fall including a new powder called Compact-Expert Dual Powder ($46 each for 5g/0.17 oz, made in Italy) and concealers called Stylo-Expert Click Sticks ($34 each for 1 g/0.035 oz, made in Korea). I saw the new items last month in person while I was in Santa Barbara and found a Space NK store near my hotel and picked up a few of the powders, when I got home I decided I needed all the colors so ordered the rest online from Nordstrom. I also ordered three of the concealers as I wasn’t sure what color I would be, in store swatching seemed to have shades that were either too light or dark but I decided to give it a go.

The Compact-Expert Dual Powders are also called All-Over Perfection matte and glow powders. The box says these powders are made with Intensive Mimetic Camouflage technology which is supposed be “self-adapting” light-focus pigments. I’m not really sure I understand fully what that means or if this really means anything significant but I do find these have a lightweight soft blendable texture that give the skin a beautiful natural glow and tint of color. Each compact has two shades, a center that is shimmery and an outer ring that is more satiny/matte. I don’t know that I would use these all over the face as the size of the product makes it pretty hard to dip a powder or brush blush into just one color. Also most of these don’t strike me as setting powder colors. I do like these as highlighters or blushes, even on the eyes though. They are like a softer slightly more matte version of the Charlotte Tilbury Cheek to Chic Powder Blushes. Lasting power is quite good – they stay put all day long on me. There is no detectable scent and have a smooth flawless finish.

The lighter shades are all really pretty light in color. Pigment is sheer to medium but buildable. The only color that resembles my skintone is 4 Beige Nude, the others look similar on me but a lot of times lighter colors can do that. If you are on the fair or light end of the skintone spectrum I think you’ll be thrilled to find a few options light enough for you!

1 Ivory Fair, 2 Rosy Gleam, 3 Apricot Glow, 4 Beige Nude

Shades 5 through 8 show up better on my skintone as blush or bronzer. I love every single color. If I had to skip any, I think Choco Vanilla can pull a little bit too warm on my skintone.

5 Amber Light, 6 Choco Vanilla, 7 Sun Desire and 8 Mocha Fizz

Next up are the By Terry Stylo-Expert Click Stick concealers which I think rival Cle de Peau (at least the original formula, I haven’t tried the new one). The By Terry ones have a smoother finish that glide on the skin easier. I’ve loved Cle de Peau for years but the biggest complaint I’ve heard from readers is that the formula is too opaque and dry and can tug on the skin, especially under the eyes. The By Terry has rich opaque coverage but blends out to medium coverage – it’s not as full coverage as the Cle de Peau ones but still has impressive coverage I was able to build. Swatching can be a little deceiving as they are really opaque when you swatch them and they look pale, but they will look more forgiving on the skin if you don’t have an exact match. In store I thought the shades would be too light or dark. If I were to find my exact match it would be in between 8 and 10 (there’s a pretty big gap there). 8 is the closest but pulls a little olive – for my concealers I tend to want a little bit more warmth as an exact match can be a bit sallow-looking on my olive skin.

I tried 4.5 and 5 as well. Oddly enough all three work for me under the eyes – the color you pick really depends on what kind of coverage, undertone or effect you need. You can definitely use these to brighten or highlight or contour. They are creamy enough that you can layer on top of your foundation and it won’t look cakey. These wore well on my skin under the eyes and didn’t crease, budge or cake – you do need to set with powder and if you have dry patches I recommend you make sure you prime or moisturize the skin well first.

The biggest downside I’d say is the price for the amount of product you get. The By Terry Stylo-Expert Click Stick runs $34 for 1 g while the Cle de Peau is $70 for 5 g. A quick look at price per oz on other concealers show that the By Terry one is indeed on the high side and while I do understand the quality, packaging and design is all there I do think they should give us more product in the tube.

Shown below 4.5 Soft Beige, 5 Peach Beige and 8 Intense Beige

Swatches next to other shades I use: Diorskin Forever Under Cover Concealer 30 and 31, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger, Milk Makeup Flex Concealer in Medium and Sisley Phtyo Cernes Eclat #2.

Quick looks with four of the shades on the face plus different matching/coordinating lip colors:

Foundation is Diorskin Forever Perfect Foundation in 31
Concealer is By Terry Stylo-Expert Click Stick in 5 Peach Beige under the eyes
Cheek Color + Lip Color from top left clockwise, the cheek colors have been swirled in the compact and then applied on cheeks:
- By Terry Compact-Expert in #3 Apricot Glow + By Terry Rouge-Expert Click Stick in #3 Bare Me
- By Terry Compact-Expert in #5 Amber Light + Rouge Dior Liquid in Delicate Satin #427
- By Terry Compact-Expert in #7 Sun Desire + Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lipstick in Slow Burn
- By Terry Compact-Expert in #6 in Choco Vanilla + YSL Volupte Shine in #47 Beige Blouse (swatch here)
Eyeshadow is Laura Mercier Matte Caviar Eye Stick in Caramel + Chanel City Lights (review here)
Mascara is L’Oreal Lash Paradise Waterproof
Brow pencil is Diorshow Brow Styler in Universal Brown
Stripe tee by Jcrew

One last look and overall thoughts: I am really impressed with the powders – they are smooth and have a natural glow on the skin. I could have skipped #1, 2 (these are too light) and 6 (too warm) but really all the colors are wearable and I know I’ll wear each shade on a regular basis. This isn’t something I feel I can say about entire collections but in this case I can. The concealers are really good in terms of wear, quality and finish. my feelings on these are the same about those Hourglass Confession Lipsticks – the price is really just too much given the mount of product that they give you. If you can find a shade that works for you I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, but I can’t help but feel like it’s kinda a rip-off price per gram.

I bought all the shades myself but received three powders as press samples which I’m going to give away! One person will win #4, #5 and #7. All you have to do is subscribe to my newsletter, be sure to enter via the Rafflecopter widget below – it’s open internationally but you must be 18 years or older to enter. Giveaway ends 10/14/2017 and I’ll select ONE winner within 48 hours after it ends and contact them via e-mail.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you tried these? What did you think? If not which shade do you have your eye on? Note there is a Space NK/Nordstrom GWP going on now online only if you have these on your wishlist. I believe Space NK will have a gift in a week or so as well.

I found these at Space NK and Nordstrom. Also available at Barneys New York, Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Net-A-Porter and Beautylish.

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Florida Travel

Six Months in Florida

October 6, 2017

This year has has been one of the most interesting and challenging years of my life with our move from California to Florida back in February. This month marks the seven month time period of us living on the East Coast, but with evacuating for a few days, travel, and work trips here and there we’ve really been in Tampa Bay for six. So many have asked for a Tampa Bay travel guide plus thoughts on moving from coast to coast. I know most of you come to this blog for beauty-related reviews and insights so it makes me happy to find a lot of you are interested in other parts of my life as well.

We moved from San Diego to Tampa Bay in February of this year. Both Andrew and I had lived in San Diego most of our lives and were ready for a change. We didn’t know exactly where we wanted to live, but we knew it would be somewhere sunny. The timing happened to coincide with the fact that Andrew’s parents found their dream house in Apollo Beach, Florida and decided to buy it for retirement in a year or two. They asked us if we’d consider moving and renting from them so they wouldn’t have to find strangers to rent it and we agreed. We packed up everything we owned from the modern loft we rented into a 16-foot Penske moving truck with our three fur kids and drove across country to Florida in 5 days.

Our plan was to rent their home for a year while we explored Florida to decide where to settle down. We explored things all over the place fell in love with pretty much everything. Each area has it’s own unique charm! Unfortunately things don’t always go according to plan. Long story very short, Andrew’s parents told us they were going to move/retire earlier than they expected. They changed their move date twice and by mid-July we learned they would be in Apollo Beach by August. We had to find a new place in a matter of a couple weeks. To say I had a freak out about the thought of not having a place to live would be an understatement. With pets finding a place to rent or buy isn’t an easy process and for sure isn’t something you can do quickly. Andrew, being the glass half full kind of person that he is, calmed me down and said we should look on the bright side, take advantage of not being tied down, travel month-to-month in a few vacation rentals and do some real exploring to get a sense of the different areas in Florida.

In less than 5 days we packed, found a storage unit, moved most of our belongings there and found a vacation rental that would take 3 pets. We signed up with a parcel delivery service for our mail and packages. We each packed a suitcase and a few bankers moving boxes to bring essentials with us. Finding a monthly vacation rental was easy, but finding one that would take 3 pets with a fenced yard was a bit of a challenge. We looked at Airbnb, HomeAway and VRBO and it took hours of searching. As this post is being published, we are now on Month 3 of living the nomadic life in three different areas of Tampa Bay and it’s been quite an adventure. Stressful for sure, but still we’ve managed to have a lot of fun, explore like tourists and also live like locals. We’ve learned a lot.

Now that I’ve shared my story, here are some thoughts on each place we’ve lived, a list of my top places to see and where to eat in Tampa Bay. We still have a long list of places we want to visit! Florida is such a huge place we’ve barely scratched the surface.

Where we’ve lived:

When people ask me what it’s like to live in Florida, my answer is that it really depends on where you are. Florida is a really big state, we’ve only really explored Tampa Bay which is enormous. The only thing consistent across Tampa Bay is that the weather is warm, it can be hot and humid and it rains frequently. We loved that the weather is so warm you can swim in the ocean without freezing! In the three cities we’ve lived we’ve found so much wildlife – each area has different kinds of animals that gravitate towards those areas. Some that scare me to death like snakes, geckos and lizards and some that are cute like pelicans, cranes, squirrels and dolphins.

Apollo Beach is a city south and east of Tampa. Much of the area was developed to be a waterfront community so there are a lot of man-made canals which is unlike anything I had ever seen before. My in-law’s house is located in one of the gated communities along the water where every house has a boat dock in their backyard. Manatees, dolphins, fish, birds and all kinds of wildlife surface which is really amazing. Andrew and I loved everything about our neighborhood and the house had a lot of charm: two stories, four bedrooms, huge backyard and a pool. The only downside was it was far from everything we were interested in seeing, doing or eating – most places are at least 35 minutes away to an hour drive.

St. Pete Beach is one of the best beach towns I’ve visited. If you’re looking for a great vacation spot this is such a cute area with lots of fun coffee shops, restaurants, cute hotels, beaches with cabana rentals and more. We rented a cute beach house in August, also with a pool and fenced back yard. It was the first time we had used VRBO and we had a great experience. It’s easy to navigate, search, filter (a key for us pet owners) and book. We were a bit worried it would also be too far from Tampa and it is, however there is so much to explore in the area. Treasure Island is a lot fun (they have an amazing salt water taffy store there and I don’t even like taffy, but the ones there are amazing!), Pass-A-Grille has beautiful beaches to relax, and St. Petersburg is only 30 minutes away.

Saint Petersburg was our third Florida destination to live. This area was my favorite for food. In the month we lived in St. Pete Beach we found ourselves constantly driving the 20-30 minutes to Saint Petersburg for coffee, lunch and dinner so we decided to live there for a month. This was our second experience VRBO where we rented a charming cottage.

Places to visit:

We’re still exploring Florida and I’ll most likely create a separate page that I’ll update as we see more. In Florida I think the most frequently suggested place to visit is Orlando because of Disney World and all the other theme parks. I had been to Disneyland in California many times growing up and actually liked that one better. Our favorite places that we visited:

Clearwater Beach has the best soft white sand out of all the beaches I’ve visited. It’s a great place to stop by for a day visit. Sunsets are just so beautiful! Where we stayed in Clearwater in this post here.
St. Pete Beach is one of the most fun areas to live and explore. We stayed at the Kimpton Hotel Zamora in December which we would definitely go to again. After we moved the first time we spent a day renting beach chairs and umbrellas at The DonCesar Hotel and had an amazing time. It’s on our list to stay at for stay-cations, the property is beautiful!
Fort de Soto Park is a unique park and beach area that’s quite spread out so it’s not as dense with people as some other beaches. There is a lot to explore, you can bike, walk, or swim. There is a historic fort there as well.
Pass-A-Grille is part of St. Pete Beach past The Don Cesar hotel – it’s lined with beaches all the way to the Gulf. It’s really beautiful here. We took several day trips here when we lived at the beach to just sit and relax. You definitely need to bring some beach chairs and umbrellas with you.

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park is a little over an hour north. It has two main parts, one is Buccaneer Bay which has a mini theme park feel with water slides, mermaid show, restaurants (it closes starting October, check site for when they reopen) and the other part is the kayaking along the Weeki Wachee River which is open 365 days a year (they will shut down if there are thunder/lightening storms). It took us 4 hours to kayak 5 miles and it was the best thing we’ve done in Florida.
Anna Maria is south close to Sarasota, visiting these beaches on a clear day makes you feel like you’ve found paradise. The water is clear and the brightest blue I’ve ever seen. Something definitely worth seeing.
Hyde Park Village in Tampa is a cute shopping and restaurant area. They have Sprinkles, Sur la Table, Bartaco, Anthropologie and a cute Blue Mercury store!
Bayshore Boulevard is a long continuous sidewalk along Tampa Bay, it was unique and interesting for us because the view of the water and houses in the area is just amazing! The entire sidewalk is 4.5 miles long. We watched the fourth of July fireworks from here.

Top places to eat:

Through a process of trial and error we’ve found some really amazing food in Tampa.

Bodega – best most unique Cuban sandwiches I’ve tried, since eating here I’ve put at least a dozen other places to the test and NOTHING compares.
Bartaco – love this place for the ambiance, food, service, they have several locations in a few states like Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia – definitely check it out!
Edison Food Lab – wins for most unique menu, their menu changes every once in a while which makes it interesting.
Casita Taqueria – in Florida there really isn’t quite anything as good as the Mexican food I’ve grown accustomed to in San Diego, this place is pretty darn good though. I live for their queso!
Ted Peter’s Famous Smokehouse – they have amazing fresh fish and I’m not really a fish eating person (the only sushi I do is California Roll and I know that’s not real sushi), it’s definitely a unique spot with a very relaxed atmosphere, note that they take cash only.
Fresh Kitchen – this is a Tampa/Southern version of Chipotle, they have bowls you can mix and match to create your own combination. One of the healthier food options in town.
Better Byrd – if you like chicken sandwiches or donuts (I love both), this is a way better version of Chick-Fil-A.
Datz – another place filled with amazing food options, warning though if you are a healthy eater and don’t eat here, everything on the menu is pretty hefty, but it’s unique and I think worth trying at least once.
4Rivers Smokehouse – amazing BBQ!

Best coffee and desserts:

The Hyppo is probably the best dessert place I’ve tried. They have gourmet ice pops that come in the most unique flavors, aren’t overly sweet, and have amazing fruit blends. I think I could live off these alone. They have several locations – this place is a must visit.
Sweet Brewnette is a cute coffee shop in St Pete Beach (Madiera Beach to be exact) they have really good coffee.
Kahwa Coffee has multiple locations in Tampa and Saint Petersburg, in my top 5 coffee places of all time.
La Casa del Pane is a cute Italian Bakery with good patries, foccacia, bread, coffee and desserts.
Oxford Exchange is a cute restaurant, coffee bar, tea bar and gift shop kind of place. It stocks Aesop and Cire Trudon as well!

I’ve mapped out everything here in case you want to use it as a reference!

I hope you enjoyed this roundup! If you’ve moved cross country before I’d love to hear about it. It’s taken some time for me to adjust but we love the water, beaches, warm weather, food, people. It’s been a wonderful place to explore and my first time living in the South. The only stressful thing has been the constant moving and right now we aren’t sure how much longer we will be doing this. Part of us is ready to pick a place and settle down, other parts of us really love the exploring! We had hoped to be in New York or Miami the month of October but the pet situation has made things a bit tricky. If you travel frequently any tips or tricks on how to get used to it? We’ve moved four times this year and we get better and more efficient each time. I tried to keep this as high level as possible – there’s so much I could write about our experiences! If you have any questions about anything on VRBOs/Airbnb, traveling with pets or want to see more or anything else let me know in the comments!

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Six Months in Florida

Where we’ve lived:

Places to visit:

Top places to eat:

Best coffee and desserts:

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