-Desert Essence Facial Wash: LOVE it! Have absolutely nothing bad to say about this face wash, which is both gentle and extremely effective, except that the pump squirts out too much at a time so you go through the bottle pretty quickly.

-Whole Foods 365 Shampoo/Conditioner: My hair is ridiculously silky considering it hasn’t been cut in like 3 months with highlights in the mean time.  It’s also extremely affordable, although you have to use a lot of it because it has very low lather-ability. I got the grapefruit variety.

-Mother Pucker Lip Plumper: Honestly, I’m not sure that it actually plumps your lips any better than competing products, but I love how it exfoliated my lips. Never have I gotten such a great exfoliation that lasted for days. Over-all my lips looked great. Kind of pricey at $27.49

-Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Petulant: Gorgeous color and good texture to throw on with hardly any other makeup, or with a face full of Friday.

Have a great weekend!

But what about the other way around? When a product’s inadequate packaging actually stands in the way of its performance? The following are fabulous products with poor packaging. Or ‘piss poor’ as my dad would say.

Stila Lip Glaze: Click click. Nothing. Click click click click. Still nothing. Clickclickclickclickclickclick Goooosh. A weeks worth of gloss drips from the tip of the applicator brush. Great gloss though.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion: This packaging makes you work for it. You want that shadow to stick? Do you? Let’s hope so, ‘cause you’ve got to want it to get it out of the package.

L’Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Color Presso: This packaging is just straight dumb. You have to pull/twist off the outer cap and then deal with two open color vials. Dumb.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser:  Apparently this foundation is really a two-in-one because the sponge applicator is so rough it could also be considered an exfoliater. The upside is that you can buy the product without the ‘eraser’ built-in sponge and apply it with your fingers instead.

A couple quick best packaging shout-outs include…

Any of the mini lip glosses that can fit in your pocket. These include Bobby Brown, Milani, and sample glosses by various brands at Sephora.

Sally Hansen Color Quick Fast Dry Nail Color Pen. This seems way too cool for school, but I’ve heard from a trusted source that not only does the polish dispense evenly, but that the thin pen applicator makes nail polishing much easier.

Tarte Cheek Stain and Eyeshadow Palette: The cheek stain is packaged to literally wipe across your cheeks. So much easier than other cheek stains or cream blushes. The eyeshadow palettes have a strong magnetic closure that keeps all the colors secure so you don’t open it to an avalanche of powders.

The Packaging Company produces cosmetic packaging that can biodegrade in 5 years. Like!

Apparently Tokidoki has had a ridiculously cute cosmetic line out in Sephora since the beginning of April. This packaging seriously puts Hello Kitty to shame. At a launch party they served donuts on light sabers and had a skating ramp with rad girl skaters.

The Hard Candy product line is behind the creation of not only the Tokidoki cosmetics, but all the other goods too, from Coke Light bottles to zipper pulls. The owners snagged artist/creator Simone Legno from Italy and dragged him to LA to make him rich back in 2003. Seems it’s going well.

As far as the makeup, I have no idea if it’s any good. I didn’t even try a tester as I quickly ogled the packaging while my male half waited politely outside. But I’m pretty sure I’m going to need at least a gloss and maybe a travel bag too.

Kaylan, a hairstylist and one of those people whose always so put-together you figure she must be at least partially made of plastic, loves Sally Hanson’s Full and Radiant Lip Definer.  Says that lately she hasn’t even been wearing lipstick, which is truly a testament to the greatness of the product.

Another hairstylist, Mordechai, often travels from NY to Chicago for private clients and Miami for commercial clients. Because of preferring to pack only for carry-on, he buys Burts Bees Radiance Body Lotion per job when he arrives on location. It’s great for on camera and in person because the shimmer is so slight you can barely tell you have something on at all. I give it to my brides to slather up with now too.

Lately I have personally tried most bath products available in the grocery store. I have to say that for only a few bucks Vasoline Bath Beads are a pretty solid product. It’s kind of like pouring laundry detergent into your bath at first, but the little beads dissolve to add slight emollients to the water. Great for dry skin.

For more bargain binge products, check out previous posts Drugstore Cowgirl, Drugstore FAQ, and Beauty on a Budget

Cream Blush: This is more ‘natural’ than a powder because instead of sitting on top of your skin it gets smooshed in. More radiant some would say. The con is that it takes more skill to apply because of the blending process. Packaging like Tarte’s Cheeks Stain (although this example is a little more translucent than a cream) is helpful because you can kind of smear it on without going too far astray. Otherwise, little dots of color that you connect in blending is the easiest way to go.

Powder Blush:  By far the most consumer friendly. Tons and tons of colors to choose from and, as long as you know where your face is, it’s pretty hard to screw up. Some tips to avoid uneven color distribution: don’t overload your brush and use a light hand in application. I’m sure you all know about cult favorite Orgasm by Nars.

Cheek Stain: Formerly known as the smear of red lipstick left after an elderly kiss assault. Actually I find these to be very pretty. The colors tend to be more light and vibrant than with a cream and remind me more of a true flush.  I prefer it for younger skin. Just dab it in to your cheeks with your fingers and blend. Benetint is a cute stain by Benefit.

Cream and Powder Combo: This multi-textured layering technique can really provide a great glow. It’s especially nice if the powder tone is a little lighter than the cream or a little shimmery. Kind of a bit much for a trip to class and the gym, but for nice occasions it can take it up a step.  Another plus is that I find the color to last longer when using both. Remember, cream first then powder.

We will leave placement of the rouge for another day. Wha-ha-ha-ha….

And see look, even this creepy weird doll looks a little nicer with some rosey cheeks.

]]> http://www.makefacebeauty.com/the-goods-going-rouge/feed/ 1 http://www.makefacebeauty.com/the-goods-chanel-ltats/ http://www.makefacebeauty.com/the-goods-chanel-ltats/#comments Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:20:21 +0000 Sally http://www.makefacebeauty.com/?p=414 Nothing says class like a Chanel brand tattoo. Seriously, I love these Les Trompe-L’Oeil de Chanel things. They’re sexy yet romantic and delicate… and just so pretty. I have a feeling the actual application requires some delicate work to achieve the kind of looks as shown on the runway though.

And they are not exactly a budget purchase. At $75 you could probably find yourself a truck stop offering real tattoos.  I agree with Jenny Sue that I would rather buy a great makeup brush or something from Chanel at the same price but, none the less, am super excited about this product. Maybe they’d be a great splurge for a summer wedding accessory (as guest of course)?

Led by Key Artist Leslie Devlin, the makeup gently references the darker side of the classic tale, while keeping the over-all looks fantastical and fun. The bright colors and creative shading techniques for the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) exhibit craziness led by a good heart. The Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) is Stoic in Kabuki-esk face but kept silly with Mimi Bobeck blue eye shadow. As for the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), I thought the dark lips on white skin to be a reference to her character’s conflict between her vow not to kill and talent in making magical potions from dead creatures. In the movie her lips are actually much more black than red as depicted in the bottom picture.

For the ‘regular people’, small imperfections like tiny pimples on the child version of Alice are left just as they are, which I love for the contrast to the real world from Underland. The pale skin and dark under-eye circles of the aristocracy shows a constricted life lacking vivaciousness.

I sound like a Trekky preaching the virtues of the Klingons and their language!  Yikes. I foresee Best Makeup Oscar. Just add two teaspoons of wishful thinking.

There is a pop-up Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland makeup box set, that if nothing else is very pretty and sure to visually enhance any dressing table. I’ve heard it’s selling out like mad, so call ahead before you take a trip to your local Sephora. On the Urban Decay website it’s not even available right now.

After a demo from Temptu I *finally* bought the silicone- based airbrush starter kit of foundations. I’ve been using alcohol/water based airbrush makeup for a couple years now and, while I really wanted to include silicone into my repertoire, I’ve been too CHEAP! The basic difference without going into it is that alcohol/water is dryer and more matte than silicone.

Second I bought an industry cult favorite moisturizer called Lait-Crème Concentrate by Embryolisse. Amazing moisturizer that gives great texture to the skin on it’s own, as a base for makeup, or with a primer over top.

I passed by my friend Liz at Yaby Cosmetics to grab a freestyle palette with magnets. These palettes are an awesome way to customize a kit for both professionals and non-professionals who like to consolidate and streamline their cosmetics. It’s basically an empty palette, not too big, that you can stick any makeup into with adhesive magnets.

After snagging a 40% off lipstick at Stila I cut myself off.

A note to any single straight men who may be reading this blog: TONS of hot young things at this event.

Some silly shots from the event:

The consistency of the Collagen Curl mascara is dry-ish and fluffy, making it very easy to accentuate the lashes without getting involved with safety pins, tiny combs, or heated devices. It does last well however, because of the dryness, if you’re prone to rubbing your eye you may experience flakage. Also, not a big fan of the curved brush. A tip, turn it around and use the middle back of the curve for the perfect amount of application at a time.

Collagen Curl is great for a naturally pretty look, nothing dramatic or Kim Kardashian face, but cute for every day and super user-friendly.

Here’s my eye with a very light single application of the mascara. Mind you, I have NO LASHES naturally. Next time I’ll be sure to do a before shot too…

Bad economy, Lay-Offs, skyrocketing costs of living, low stock prices… Yadda, Yadda, Yadda.  You can STILL look fabulous on a budget, kittens!  Most of us peasants have been doing extensive research in the “broke as a joke but still gonna rock it” test market for years.  Forget the department stores.  Forget those uppity specialty stores.  (sniff, sniff…darling, fetch me a tissue as we pause for a moment of silence).Take product problems into your own hands, be a kinder & gentler Visa slave, and trust the Make-up Mama on this one, sweets.

Clean and Clear Deep Action Scrub

This product is awesome.  It gently cleanses without drying but leaves you with a sweet, little minty tingle.  Oil-free and lightly scented, great for oily skin.

Clean and Clear Continuous Control Acne Wash

Also oil-free, this foamy wonder is a powerhouse.  It will remove all but the Tammy Faye-i-est of mascara while fighting the zitage with all its affordable little heart.  Again, for oily skin but who among us (after a 6-pack or two of Maxies) who isn’t?

St. Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub

Now this IS a damn exfoliator. I have tried exfoliators from all 4 corners of the make-up world and this one is Muhammad Ali.  With one use, you will be glowing.  Just a friendly whisper, this one will take the hide off of a buffalo, so go gently if you’re “fraid”.  Definitely not the choice for sensitive skin faces, although can be a blessing for roughing up those stubborn ingrown hairs on other parts of the body.

Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat

My most favorite of the entire nail polish world.  This little gem can even make the cheapest, tackiest, tres Waffle House nail lacquer look just plain elegant.  My three words of advice about the “Vite”…not so FAST to DRY.  If I home manicure-it, I always try to give myself at least 30 minutes of “non-touching stuff” dry time.  It’s totally worth the wait, just see.

Marc Anthony (Strictly Curls) Curl Booster

I am in love with this fairly cheap, mega Curl spray.  A spritz, a scrunch or two, and some drying time led me to some really bouncy natural curls.  As a member of the Paul Mitchell Sculpting Foam Rehab Club, Mr. Marc’s lovely elixir isn’t a bad cheaper substitute.

Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Lotion

Who says this is just for the Old-sters?  Smear this on those crusty post-summer feet, cover with socks, and enjoy.