Sabrina, Author at The Beauty Look Book

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.

35 Comments

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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Lips Tom Ford Beauty

Tom Ford Boys and Girls Lip Colors – The Girls

October 4, 2017

Tom Ford launched 50 shades of girls lip colors with the Boys and Girls Lipsticks ($36 each) this year with two formulas, Lip Color Sheer and Ultra-Rich Lip Color. I stopped by my local Nordstrom the week they launched and picked out a handful to purchase. I’ve been a huge fan of Tom Ford lipsticks from the very start and each year I look forward to seeing their new mini clutch-sized launches. They did Lips and Boys for two years and this year they added a Lips and Girls which I think is super fun. After covering my hand with swatches I ended up with twelve of the Lips and Girls Sheers and five of the Lips and Girls Ultra-Rich formula. A few thoughts on each formula and then swatches + descriptions below.

The Girls Lip Color Sheers are just as the name implies, “sheer.” They are ultra smooth, hydrating and have a gorgeous sheen. Most of the colors I saw had some degree of shimmer for the sheer finish, although I did notice a few non-shimmers. They are sheer though. Many of the colors I picked out ended up looking very similar once on my lips. I should have picked some of the deeper or brighter colors for more variety. All the colors I tried were smooth in coverage except Carine and Lena, both of which were a bit streaky on my lips. To me these have a similar vibe to that of the Chanel Rouge Coco Shines and YSL Volupte Shine Oil in Stick, just with a little less slip, not quite as balmy, and with a tiny bit more pigment. Lasting power isn’t going to be exceptional since they are sheer and glossy so reapplication is going to be necessary. I don’t mind since they feel so comfortable on the lips.

The Girls Ultra-Rich Lip Colors have more pigment with a soft glossy finish. I absolutely love this formula and wish the entire line of Lips and Girls had been like this. I have and love the full size Revolve Around Me and the Lips and Girls are just as good in terms of pigment, coverage and comfort. They hug the lips nicely and the colors are gorgeous. On my pigmented lips some of the shades I picked also look similar, the difference will be more noticeable if you have lighter colored lips. I’ll note the difference in undertone below.

Colors are split into three sets below, two sets of the sheers and one set of the ultra-rich. Up first are:

Carine is a light shimmery beige nude
Edita is a neutral nude beige shimmer
Nina is a soft peachy shimmer
Beatrice is a light baby pink with iridescent blue shimmers
Julianne is a medium pink beige shimmer
Alicia is a light neutral-cool pink shimmer

All lip swatches on bare lips, foundation shade worn on the skin is the Tom Ford Waterproof Foundation/Concealer in Natural. I feel like a broken record about this one but it’s really one of the best ones I’ve used in a long time and has still held up really well in the Florida heat/humidity. In case you still have not seen the review, it’s posted here with swatches of Bisque, Natural and Sable alongside MAC Studio Fix Fluid swatches for reference. For those who want to know my MAC shade, I fluctuate between NC25 and NC37 in the liquid because I tan easily. Right now I’m the equivalent of NC37. I don’t know what shade I am in the powder, many years ago I used to use C3 and C4 but I developed a severe allergic reaction to the powder and have been scared to re-try it since.

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Second set includes:

Carolyn is a shimmery neutral pink brown with silver shimmer
Ellie is a cool mauve shimmer
Lara is a light mauve brown shimmer
Fabiola is a creamy mauve brown pink
Lena is a pale aqua colored shimmer
Isamaya is a sheer violet

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Third set is with the Ultra-Rich:

Katherine is a soft beige pink, it’s similar to my fav Bradley but Katherine has a bit more pink
Marisa is a pretty medium pink
Zoe is a peachy pink cream
Isla is a coral peach
Valentina is a plum mauve

Bradley added below to the arm swatch set below, review + swatch of that color in this post here.

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Overall thoughts is I love the formula, it’s truly top notch. The Lip Color Sheers are as the name implies “sheer” and while I knew that was what I should expect, I feel like I could have skipped more than 3/4 of the colors I bought because they look so similar once they are on the lips. Out of the 12 sheers I bought 4 of them broke at the base which is heartbreaking so I’m going to hopefully exchange those at Nordstrom. This has never happened to me before with any Tom Ford Lipstick (and I’ve tried all of the formulas) and based on the fact that most of mine are still ok, I think it could have just been duds. For those suspecting it might have been heat that melted or softened them at the base – I make sure everything is back at air-conditioned room temperature before swatching. I love the Ultra-Rich formula – it is one of the best formulas I’ve tried. I love the smooth glossy finish and the colors are really quite pretty.

Out of all the colors I bought, my top 5 picks: Nina, Ellie, Katherine, Zoe and Valentina. Although Katherine is a pretty good dupe for Bradley so they are most likely too similar to justify owning both (if you don’t want dupes).

There are some new shades of Lips and Boys but I decided to skip them this round which is a good thing because there are tons of new shades in the Lip Color and Lip Color Matte formula which I’m dying to see in person.

You can find the Tom Ford Boys and Girls at all counters now, the girls shades are available individually for $36 each, in a 50 piece set for $1,980 and also in a trio set at Neiman Marcus for $108. I bought mine from Nordstrom. Also available at Neiman Marcus, Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue, Beautylish and Tom Ford Beauty. They are limited-edition.

Have you checked these out yet? What did you think?

22 Comments

On My Radar

October 2, 2017

Happy Monday everyone! I’ve been a bit MIA as we are moving and we had a few last minute changes in our plans for this month. Thanks to everyone who has sent their kind thoughts and wishes – we are all well and good in Florida and thankfully there was no damage to the area we lived and the neighborhood my in-laws house is ok as well. We are in a transition phase but I hope to have the Tom Ford Lips and Girls review, new post on By Terry launches and the full living in Florida recap this week. A lot of you messaged me asking if I was planning on reviewing the Diptyque City Exclusives – I was able to order four of the cities, but many of them sold out the day they launched online (I’m missing Shanghai and New York). I’ll try to review the ones I do have soon though. A few things have popped up on my beauty radar:

Mansur Gavriel has been on my radar for a long time, I’ve been waiting to go to NY to see the new colors and all the sizes at their pop-up store in person, but my trips keep getting postponed! I’m 5’3″ so I love that they have minis and mini-mini sizes, I’ve been so tempted to just order one online from Net-A-Porter but have decided to wait and see them in person – if you have any of their bags let me know your thoughts!
Tom Ford launched new shades of Lip Color and Lip Color Matte, had I known these were coming I would have skipped some of the Lips and Girls Lip Sheers and opted to purchase these instead, I haven’t seen the colors in person yet though
Chanel La Creme Main is one of the most interesting packages I’ve seen for a hand cream, I received a sample of this but I’m living out of a suitcase this week so review will happen in the next week or so, I’m anxious to see how it performs!
Byredo Velvet Haze is one of the latest from Byredo, I sampled a mini from the September Barneys Beauty Bag Event and love the warm fall vibe it has, it’s still hot as heck here in Florida but we are hoping to do some travel in the next couple of months and it’s definitely on my wishlist
Atelier Cologne Bois Blonds has been my go-to the past month, I bought a mini size while I was in San Francisco and wish I had just bought the larger size, it’s the perfect summer to fall transition fragrance and I need to buy another one soon
By Terry Compact Expert Dual Powders are some of the prettiest face powders I’ve ever tried, they’re designed to mattify, highlight and set all over – but since these have colors that look like both blush, highlight or bronzer I don’t see how they’ll really work as a setting powder, I purchased all the shades and will review soon – they look lovely on the cheeks or as a soft contour/highlight
Bobbi Brown launches her beautiful Beauty Cases each year, this year’s color is a pretty red, she also has a bigger Deluxe Beauty Trunk available but I haven’t seen any inside photos of this year’s version
Truffle has some new launches including a Clarity Jetset Case and Clarity Pouches with a wider base, they look promising for travel!
Laura Mercier Matte Caviar Stick Eye Colors are among the best soft matte cream shadows I’ve tried, I’ve only tried a couple shades so far in Au Naturel, Caramel and Blossom which are pretty darn good, I have a few others I haven’t gotten to yet but if you’re one who prefers minis some holiday sets have just launched including this 4-piece Mod to Modern Holiday Caviar Stick Set (also available at Sephora)
Barneys New York Blow Out in a Box looks like a killer gift set, it has four full-size items from Oribe, Shu Uemura Art of Hair, Rodin and Sachajuan at a value price, this For the Jet Set Box is an even better buy (for the value)

What’s been on your radar lately? I feel like we just started seeing fall beauty collections and this weekend I’ve already started seeing holiday sets out!

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Highlighters Hourglass Cosmetics Lips

New Hourglass Launches: Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 3, Metallic Strobe and Confession Refillable Lipstick Set

September 28, 2017

There are three new limited-edition launches from Hourglass for lips and cheeks. Two new palettes have arrived with new formulas/finishes from the Ambient Lighting line and there are new shades of the Confession Ultra-Slim Lipsticks exclusive to a set. I have all three that I’ve been playing with for the past week:

Ambient® Lighting Edit Volume 3 ($80) has six different powders for face, bronzer, highlight and blush in Diffused Light, Hypnotic Strobe Light, Dim Light, Luminous Bronze Light, Surreal Halo, Pure Effect Blush
Ambient® Metallic Strobe Lighting Palette ($62) has three new metallic highlighters in Absolute Strobe Light, Pure Strobe Light, Lucent Strobe Light
Confession Refillable Lipstick Set ($54) has three new lipsticks in My One Desire, True Love Means and You Are My

Up first is the Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 3 which has a mix of existing and new shades. The colors included: Diffused Light (soft pale yellow satin powder), Hypnotic Strobe Light (pale champagne shimmer), Dim Light (soft pink satiny powder), Luminous Bronze Light (light bronze), Surreal Halo (mauve rose shimmer), Pure Effect Blush (light but bright pink).

The entire feel and vibe of this is on the light to medium side for color. Pigment is soft to medium with a naturally glowy feel. I thought the colors would be too light for my tan complexion but they all show up on my skin – Diffused Light and Dim Light of course have a sheer effect, almost like a finishing or softening powder. The bronzer does seem quite a bit lighter in color than the individual ones I own. Each powder is unique so I do understand there could be variation because the one I have in the palette has more highlighter vs bronzer, still the effect is noticeably lighter.

Finish is smooth and doesn’t emphasize pores. Lasting power is quite good – it stayed put on my face and cheeks from morning to late evening. All this being said if you already own a lot of Hourglass products individually you may find there are very close dupes. As mentioned in a few recent posts I’m in between places and most of my items are in storage so I don’t have access to products for comparisons. Off the top of my head I do feel this palette is very similar to existing shades although the Pure Effect Blush is one of the prettiest pinks I’ve ever swatched.

Worn below is:

Tom Ford Waterproof Foundation in Natural
Armani Luminous Silk Powder #4 + Hourglass Dim Light to set
By Terry Stylo Expert Click #8 Concealer
Hourglass Pure Effect Blush on cheeks
Hourglass Hypnotic Strobe Light on eyes
Marc Jacobs Beauty Glambition Eyeshadow Palette on eyes
Hourglass Confession Ultra Slim Lipstick in True Love Means

Up next is the Metallic Strobe Lighting Palette which I’ve previously reviewed here. The powders are smooth with buildable pigment and rich shimmer. It’s wearable for a pretty highlight but a little on the pale side for my tan complexion right now. Full review + swatches (also shown on the face) here but I’ll repost images below.

Last but not least is the Hourglass Ultra Slim Confession Refillable Lipstick Set. It has three new shades of lipstick that are exclusive to the set. There is one gold bullet exterior and two refills inside. The pigment is opaque with full coverage and smooth. Formula is just as good as the individual shades all reviewed and swatched here.

My favorite shades are still from the individual lineup but all three of these are wearable for pretty much any occasion, day or night. I’m giving away the three new launches featured in this post to two lucky readers, enter through the widget below. Here’s how this will work:

Giveaway open internationally, but you must be 18 years or older
Giveaway will run from 9/28/2017 through 10/12/2017 11:45 PM EST
Two winners will be selected at random through the widget below
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You can find the new Hourglass launches at all Hourglass counters, stores and retailers now. They are limited-edition. Available online at Nordstrom, Sephora, Bergdorf Goodman, Space NK, Net-A-Porter, Barneys New York and Hourglass Cosmetics.

Have you tried these yet? What did you think?

New Hourglass launches sent courtesy of Hourglass for review. Giveaway items purchased by me.

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Lips MAC

MAC x Nicki Minaj Collection Review + Swatches

September 26, 2017

The MAC x Nicki Minaj collection just launched which includes an entire collection of nude lipsticks and glosses. It’s literally a nude lip lover’s dream come true. There are two special edition nudes that were created by Nicki Minaj that come in gorgeous pink packaging along with eighteen other lipsticks and six lipglasses (some repromotes, some are new). I’m one of the biggest fans for nude lips but since I have olive skin and a naturally pigmented lip undertone finding one that works is super tricky. I’ve found over the years the trick with a lot of nude lip shades is that layering with pencils and gloss is key. Luckily brands have expanded their range of neutrals so I’ve actually found quite a few that don’t require extra work.

I bought the entire MAC x Nicki Minaj collection online since MAC select members had early access. The same day my order arrived a beautiful press package arrived so I ended up with two of everything. I’m passing along the duplicates I ordered to a few friends and my niece, but stay tuned I’ll be doing a giveaway on another post later this week. Many of these shades are on the lighter side and a lot look very similar on me (like super pale concealer). Also because I have a pigmented lip my natural lip shows through on many of the swatches which looks like it could be a dark lipliner but I assure you it’s not. It’s just my natural lip tone showing through.

What I have reviewed and swatched for this collection:

MAC x Nicki Minaj Lipstick The Pink Print
MAC x Nicki Minaj Lipstick Nicki’s Nude
Lipglass in: Under the Sheets, N-U-D-E, Please Me
Lipsticks in: Gossamer Wing, 2N, Bare Bling, Creme d’Nude, The Right Note, Derriere, Japanese Maple, Stripped, A Girl’s Got Needs, Easy Babe, Age Sex Location, Among the Fireflies, Playing Koi, Bosom Friend, Pretty Please, Baby’s All Right, Patisserie, Mmmmmmm

Up first are the MACxNicki Minaj Lipstick colors in The Pink Print and Nicki’s Nude. Both have an amazing smooth opaque formula that covers the lip in one swipe. The Pink Print is a pale opaque pink peach however it’s on the soft side and the lipstick broke in the tube. To continue using it I’m most likely going to have to put it into a pot. A quick look at other reviews shows that I’m not the only one with the issue of breakage. Just something to keep in mind when applying – apply if very gently. Nicki’s Nude is a deeper baby peach. This one isn’t quite as soft for me but still smooth and soft.

Next are the MAC x Nicki Minaj nude lipsticks which I’ve split into two groups (based on order they were displayed in the box). Shown below include:

Gossamer Wing a pale soft shimmer pale beige
2N light cream colored nude
Bare Bling light beige tan cream
Creme d’Nude peachy cream nude
The Right Note light-medium tan
Derriere muted medium brown
Japanese Maple pink peach sheer
Stripped medium tan nude
A Girl’s Got Needs medium tan brown
The Pink Print and Nicki’s Nude added in the swatch below

Foundation worn is Tom Ford Waterproof Foundation in Natural (my MAC Studio Fix Fluid equivalent is NC35/37, these shades are also swatched here). As mentioned above all the lip swatches are on bare lips. There may be a visible dark ring around the edges as that is my natural lip showing through. All lip swatches done on bare lips.

Next set of nude lipstick colors include the following:

Easy Babe is a cafe latte brown
Age Sex Location is a slightly deeper brown neutral
Among the Fireflies is a mauve pink brown
Playing Koi is a pale warm pink (on me it’s like light concealer)
Bosom Friend is a pale cool pink
Pretty Please is a sheer lustre pink with a tiny bit of shimmer
Baby’s All Right is a muted cool mauve pink
Patisserie is a sheer glossy pink
Mmmmmmm is a deeper mauve pink rose

MAC x Nicki Minaj Lipglasses shown below in:

Under the Sheets is a sheer sparkly pale pink
N-U-D-E is a soft peachy pink shimmer (reminds me of Love Nectar)
Please Me is a pale pink cream, alone it’s a bit on the streaky side
Beaux (swatched/reviewed here) is a soft brown tan shimmer
Spite (swatched/reviewed here) is a cool toned neutral pink-brown-taupe
Spice (swatched/reviewed here) is a warm tan pink

I didn’t swatch any of the lip liners repromoted with this collection but in case you’re looking for a nude. I swatched quite a few side by side from various brands in my Neutral Lip Pencil post here.

Bottom line, even though many of these colors are hard for me to wear alone, I still think this launch is a nude lip lover’s dream. If you search for swatches of these online you’ll see many of the colors that look like concealer on me look quite different on those with lighter skin or lip tones. Playing Koi for example actually looks more true to tube on some while on me it’s just a washed out mess.

My favorites include: The Right Note, Japanese Maple, Stripped, A Girl’s Got Needs, Age/Sex/Location, Among the Fireflies, Patisserie and MMMMMM. I think Patisserie is the most natural looking neutral on my complexion and I think it would most likely be one of the more universal shades in the bunch. For the lipglasses nothing would have stopped me from buying Under the Sheets and NUDE however I do think they are similar to existing shades.

What’s your favorite nude lip right now? I know everyone has a different definition of nude so I’d be interested to hear what yours is!

You can find the MAC x Nicki Minaj collection out now, I usually buy mine at MAC and Nordstrom.

MAC x Nicki Minaj collection provided by MAC for review. Items also purchased by me.

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Highlighters

New Highlighter Launches for Fall

September 24, 2017

The highlighter trend is still going very strong and brands show no signs of slowing down with new releases. I love a good glow and trying new highlighters is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to be ok with varying degrees of glowy shimmers but these days it seems like the more glitz the better. I can’t pull off lots of frost, glitter or super light colored shimmers with my olive tan complexion so for me this roundup has some misses alongside some hits for me. There are a number of new launches out that aren’t included in this post. I’ll add a few notes at the end with some extra thoughts.

One of the palettes that caught my eye immediately was the Laura Mercier Exotique Face Illuminator Collection Palette. It’s exclusive to Sephora and has two new shades of their Face Illuminators in Infatuation and Temptation. I already own the other two Indiscretion and Devotion in the full size (reviewed here) and while I would have really preferred to have a palette with all new shades I do like that it has these as it will be a good one for travel. Indiscretion happens to be one of my favorites that I own. Going forward if I had to travel with 1 highlighter palette I think this would be in my top 3 picks. Formulas is true to full size – smooth, easy to build, doesn’t emphasize pores, beautiful color and shimmer. They last long on my skin even in humid weather. You can wear on the eyes or cheeks, alone or over blush/bronzer. It’s a solid winner for me.

Next are the highlighters from Hourglass and Fenty Beauty. I’ve been a long time fan of Hourglass Ambient Lighting highlighters. This holiday they have two new palettes. One is the Ambient Metallic Strobe Lighting Palette and the other is the Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 3. I have the trio reviewed today and the other palette will be reviewed separately as it has more than just highlighters.

The Ambient Lighting Powders in general have a softer but noticeable glow. This season they’ve increased the intensity with the Metallic Strobe Lighting Palette which has the most intense shimmer I’ve seen from them. Pigment is smooth, nicely pigmented and very metallic. Colors are on the pale side and on my olive tan skin they look very similar on the face with the exception of the middle color which is clearly more gold/yellow. I can wear this with a very light and soft hand. I use a skunk brush to apply on the cheeks and it’s still very intense and metallic. Compared to previous powders launched from Hourglass this is very unique in color and finish. It has a less powdery finish compared to the Ambient Strobe Powders which some of you reported you found glittery or chalky (although they worked well for me). The Metallic Strobe Powder by comparison have no glitter particles and there isn’t any matte/chalky/powdery base but instead has a more metallic shimmer like a wet-look shimmer.

I’m kinda mixed on this one. I do think it’s a good palette. Quality, finish, pigment, texture and price are all a thumbs up. Color-wise it’s a miss as I find it’s a little too pale for me as I have quite a bit of tan and the paleness of color makes it look extra shimmery on my skin.

Next are the Fenty Beauty Match Stix Shimmer Skinsticks. I bought both sight unseen but have since had a chance to play with the entire line at Sephora. My first test with Starstruck (pale champagne pink) wasn’t good. I found it had a gritty texture and looked really dry. I tested it a few more times and it grew on me. However there is still something with the paleness that makes it too contrasted with my tan skintone and it ends up emphasizing texture. Sinamon works better for me as it is a pretty bronzey color. Both have a buildable shimmer quality and they adhere well to the skin and in this hot humid Florida weather they held up remarkably well. That being said if you have any dry patches or if you find shimmer can emphasize texture – definitely be aware these can emphasize both. I don’t think these would work for me in normal weather climate on the cheeks as they have a rather dry texture that almost tugs at the skin. They are easy to blend with fingers and I think the issue with most cream products in general is they are lacking in lasting power. For me the two shimmer sticks I tested held up really well so I’m ok with the slightly dry texture. I actually wanted to get Rum but my store was sold out. Given the number of highlighters I have and also keeping in mind holiday will probably have more offerings I’ll hold off on purchasing more.

I was able to wear both without any irritation or clogging of skin. This is something I’m always concerned about when it comes to cream or liquid cheek products. I give these a thumbs up for formula even if the colors I picked aren’t really all that unique. Starstruck just didn’t work color-wise on the cheeks for me but the formula is still really good and I find it’s lovely on the eyes.

Edward Bess makes my holy grail cream highlighters with the All Over Seduction compacts. This fall he has new launches with a Harmonious Hues Light Stick Trio which are twist up highlighters in a chubby pencil form. The colors include Candlelight (champagne), Ambience (peachy gold), Aura (soft bronze) and I absolutely love these. The shimmer is subtle but still noticeably glowy, the texture is creamy and easy to swipe on the face or eyes and easy to blend. They have a semi-emollient finish which makes the color adhere well to the skin. It’s as natural as it gets without being invisible. The colors are right up my alley.

He also has a new powder highlighter called the Marbleized Rose Gold Highlighting Powder. It’s a very pale yellow gold with smooth luminous shimmer. I love this video he did with an application on lighter skinned complexions. I think it looks amazing on them! Yellow golds really aren’t my thing as I already have yellow-based skin but I like this one on the eyes for me. The texture is very smooth and beautifully pigmented without the frost.

Cover FX launched a new set of mini Custom Enhancer Drops in a set of 4. These are larger than the ones you may have seen in a few GWPs or Beauty Insider gifts but smaller than the full size. I’ve shown them below. If you’re one who wants to try a bunch of colors or want to travel with more than 1 these are perfect. When I ordered them I didn’t realize they were existing shades (I should have read the description). I saw “minis” and it went in my cart and I didn’t think twice. Since I already own these I’m sending these to my niece. They come with a similar dropper style packaging as the full size. The shimmer is buildable to full intensity. Don’t be scared at how shimmery they look. They are actually very wearable and easy to blend out. Review on the full sizes here and here.

Last but not least Charlotte Tilbury launched a Beauty Light Wand with her Hollywood Collection. I just reviewed it a few days ago here but wanted to include it in the fall roundup. It’s a really pretty one and surprisingly convenient for on the go touch ups or for travel.

I managed to get a few decent face swatch shots. We are in between places living a rather nomadic life and are about to make our fourth move this year very soon. My setup for everything has been rather on-the-go for the past few months and I couldn’t get the focus right on the camera the last few rounds of reviews. Four highlighter face swatches shown below:

Foundation is Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra Longwear Foundation in Buff
Concealer is NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger
Powder to set is Armani Luminous Silk Powder Foundation 4
Brow pencil is Diorshow Browstyler in Universal Brown
Lipstick is Tom Ford Lips and Girls in Zoe
For highlighter:
- Top row left has the new Laura Mercier L’Amour Exotique Face Illuminator Collection with Infatuation
- Top row right has the new Laura Mercier L’Amour Exotique Face Illuminator Collection with Temptation
- Bottom row left has Hourglass Absolute Strobe Light
- Bottom row right has the FX Custom Enhancer Drops in Rose Gold on the right

Additional ones that were on my radar that I haven’t tested (yet):

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Smoky Quartz is on my wishlist, I wish it were available at Sephora or Ulta because it’s where I can get points or perks, this one looks so so pretty, I obviously do not need, but if you have it let me know what you think
Fenty Beauty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighters are something I swatched in store and the colors/pigment is quite impressive, with each duo at least 1 side has some micro sparkles which I thought would be too over the top for what I’d normally wear, I may give one a try – the pigment is soooo good!
Bobbi Brown Highlighting Powder Trio looks amazing, I really loved her highlighting powders this year and think it’s possible the trio would be dupes for the individual shades I own, but the finish of these powders is really divine
By Terry Compact Expert Dual Powders are new powder + highlighters in a compact, I will have a review on all the shades soon, I bought 5 of the 8 shades, fell in love, ordered the remaining 3 which should arrive soon, the texture and finish is so naturally beautiful (some look light in color like they could be highlighters but I’ll have to do some more testing to report)
Burberry Fresh Glow Highlighters have such a lovely glow, I’ve swatched on several occasion in stores and have been extremely tempted but I really love my Laura Mercier and Dior highlighters and felt it would be like owning duplicates
Victoria Beckham Estee Lauder Modern Mercury has been on my radar for quite some time but it kept selling out with previous launches, that being said it should be easy to find now, if I can test it in person first I’ll give it a try, I still own the Modern Mercury color before it was part of the VB collection (I had a backup) and I suspect it’s identical so I don’t think I’ll be purchasing it

All this being said, if you feel overwhelmed by all the highlighter options, you are definitely not alone. I’m on highlighter overload (and also feel that way about new foundation base launches too). I still feel my top highlighter picks include the Dior Nude Air Luminizer Powders (all four reviewed here), Laura Mercier Indiscretion (review here), Hourglass Luminous Light (review here) and Edward Bess All Over Seduction (reviewed here).

Out of the new launches the Laura Mercier palette is my favorite, followed by the By Terry Compacts (not reviewed yet, but will be soon!).

Have you jumped on the highlighter bandwagon for fall launches? What have you picked up lately (new or previously launched colors)? Let me know what you’ve been loving!

Press samples include items from Hourglass, Edward Bess and Charlotte Tilbury.

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Sabrina

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

Six Months in Florida

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Best coffee and desserts:

Tom Ford Boys and Girls Lip Colors – The Girls

On My Radar

New Hourglass Launches: Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 3, Metallic Strobe and Confession Refillable Lipstick Set

MAC x Nicki Minaj Collection Review + Swatches

New Highlighter Launches for Fall

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