Mark. stuff!

I got my shipment of goodies from mark. this week and was so excited to try them out. Here's what I got:

Clockwise from top left: Glow Xpert in Champagne Glow, Instant Vacation Fragrance Mist, For Goodness Face moisturizer with antioxidants and SPF 30, Hook Up with On The Edge liquid eyeliners in Lilith and Cleo, Hook Up with Glow Baby Glow Lipglosses in Peek-a-boo and Girly Girl, and Bronze Pro Bronzing Powder.

With each new product I get from mark., the more impressed I am. For the prices of these products, they are amazingly pretty. The Instant Vacation Fragrance Mist is like summer in a bottle; spritz a bit on and you immediately feel like you're standing on a beach, surrounded by plumeria and coconuts. It's wonderful for lifting your spirits on a dreary February day. And it's currently on clearance!

I've only tried For Goodness Face once so far, but I really like it. It doesn't smell like sunscreen and isn't heavy and thick like a sunscreen either, which is unusual given the high SPF. It has this really cool dispenser - it's like a pump, you push down on the top of the jar and the perfectly measured amount comes out from a hole in the middle of the top. Super neato!

My fave products so far are the Hook Ups. First of all, the whole Hook Up concept is great not only for keeping your favorite products together, but for portability as well. How great is it that you can pair up the items you want, throw them in your bag, and go? It's so convenient! Here are some swatches:

Clockwise from top left: GBG in Peek-a-boo, GBG in Girly Girl, OTE in Cleo, and OTE in Lilith

As you can see from the swatches, these products are - well, amazing. The Glow Baby Glow glosses are so pretty; the little vials are so cute and they smell like mint! The colors are gorgeous; Peek-a-boo is a sheer, sparkly gold nude and Girly Girl is a matte, sheer, "just pinched" pink. I am super pleased with the color payoff. The liquid liners are great as well; the brushes are super tiny and easily controled (I feel a ferosh cat eye coming on!) and these suckers do not budge. Once they dry, they really will not go anywhere; you'll likely need makeup remover to get them off. I particularly like Lilith - it dries to a really pretty bronzey, shimmery brown that I think will be perfect for spring and summer.

The bronzer is a staple; it's a pretty terra cotta colored, slightly shimmery bronzer that I think would work well for most skin tones. It applies pretty sheerly so is buildable; I tried swatching, but it didn't really show up (which is a good thing - I can add on layers, instead of looking like a clown!).

The Glow Xpert is a super fun product. It has a sponge tip applicator that's embedded into the twist-off cap. You dot the sponge on the places the light naturally hits your face (apples of cheeks, forehead, nose, and chin) for a subtle shimmer. I like that this product is so user friendly. Look at the cute applicator! (And pardon my unpolished, unkempt nails.)

I'm really excited about using this in some "fresh faced" looks for spring. And at $8, you can't beat the price. I tried swatching, and here's a pic, but I apologize if you can't see anything - as you know, my skin is so pale!


So there you have it. I didn't get a ton of products but I'm incredibly pleased with what I did receive. The price points of these items make them easy to indulge in as well; the Hook Up items were only $5 a piece and you get a free connector for every two you buy. Not bad at all! If you guys want to see more in depth reviews of any of these items, just request in the comments.

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday; it's a little cool and cloudy here, but I'm not at work so I'm a happy girl. :)

Katherine

Dazzleglass, Part Deux!

Photos & info courtesy of temptalia.com

OMG, you guys. I think I'm about to have an aneurysm. Dazzleglass is making a triumphant return - with seven new additions! I think the release of Dazzleglass was my favorite MAC release in recent memory, let me tell you. The first time I saw these babies in person I think I drooled on the MAC MA.

The new set of fabu-glosses is set to be released on April 30, 2009 in the US and will be dubbed "Double Dazzle." The glosses launched in the original Dazzleglass collection will return for this collection, and seven new shades will be added. I can't wait! My faves from the original release were Baby Sparks, Love Alert and Money Honey. Get your checkbooks ready, because they're retailing for $18 a piece - yikes!

(Oh yeah, there are mascaras too [Dazzle Lash, $12], but they just aren't as exciting to me.)

Drugstore: Product of the Week

Happy Friday, ladies! I hope you've had a great week. It's pretty warm here in VA, but it's clouding up - of course, today (a work day) it's clear and warm, and tonight and the rest of the weekend is supposed to be in the 40s and rainy. Pfft!

Anywho, this week's Drugstore Product of the Week is L'Oreal's HIP Color Rich Cream Eyeliner in Black. It comes with the little brush needed to apply it and goes on smoothly and easily. To get a natural, lush-lashes look, I load the brush up with the product and place it as close to my upper lash line as I can get it and then gently wiggle. You'll get the Angelina Jolie effortlessly-fabulous look, and you won't have that obvious "liquid eyeliner" line either (I hate that). Add two coats of mascara and your lashes will be outta control!

Disclaimer: I recently found out that L'Oreal (among other drugstore beauty brands) conducts animal testing. Therefore, I likely won't buy this product again; bummer!

I also got in a large mark. order today so I'll like post reviews, photos and swatches over the weekend. I got two awesome hook-up liquid eyeliners that I can't wait to try; perhaps tonight for my hot date with the BF? We're getting Mexican, how classy.

TGIF, girls!

Katherine

Oscar Beauty 2009

Did you watch the Oscars? I watched a bit - the first part, like I do with most awards shows. Then I get bored, I can't help it. I did watch all of the E! News red carpet coverage because I'm a sucker for pretty dresses. I have to say that my hands-down favorite of the evening was Natalie Portman.

From the makeup to the dress to the hair - she was complete perfection. The pink color looks great on her lightly tanned skin and the shimmer silver and purple makeup looked gorgeous.

So did you guys watch? Who was your fave?

- Katherine

Review: MAC Cremesheen Lipglass

I know it's a little late, but I did get two of the Cremesheen Lipglasses a week or two ago and figured I'd do a little review on them. I didn't think that I would like these lipglasses because I usually tend to gravitate towards sparkly glosses, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Top: Melt in Your Mouth, Bottom: Partial to Pink

I (naturally) chose two of the pinker colors on the collection. Melt in Your Mouth has no shimmer to it at all, it's just a creamy, semi-sheer peachy pink. Partial to Pink does have just a touch of shimmer when the light hits it (just tiny flecks of glitter here and there), but it's barely noticeable.

PROS

- Great texture. These glosses are thinner than MAC's permanent lipglasses, which is good, because I think the lipglasses can be a bit goopy. I think the texture of the Cremesheens is actually my favorite thing about them.

- Pretty colors. Both of the shades I chose are (for me, Miss McPaleface) "your lips but better" colors. Since they have little to no shimmer, they're wearable for every day as well.

- Size. The vial for these glosses is the size the Dazzleglasses came in; they are bigger than the permanent lipglass vials.

CONS

- Price. At $18, I think the price point for these is a bit steep. It is just a lip gloss, after all.

And here are some swatches (you gotta love swatches!):

L to R: Partial to Pink, Melt in Your Mouth (with flash)

L to R: Partial to Pink, Melt in Your Mouth (without flash)

FINAL VERDICT: I liked these. They're wearable and comfortable on the lips, and you do get a lot of product. However, at $18 a tube, I likely won't buy backups. I would say that I'm not sorry I bought them, but they don't necessarily excite me either. They're just okay-to-good, not fabulous.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend,

Katherine

Drugstore: Product of the Week

This week's product is a must-have for those nights when you're too tired to wash your face and really just want to fall into bed. Girls, I'm telling you - you must remove your makeup before going to sleep. It's bad for your skin to have that gunk sitting on it all night (plus, it gets all over your pillowcase). It only takes about two seconds to swipe one of Neutrogena's Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes ($8) over your face, splash it with a bit of water, and curl up into your comfy PJs.

I love this product because it's affordable, travels well, and is easy to use. The towelettes also work. They remove the toughest eye makeup, including waterproof mascara, in one swipe. They're a staple in my beauty basket and are like my own personal saviors when I'm feeling lazy - I can pass out guilt-free because I've done my duty to my skin. You can also buy a little blue plastic holder for the pack of towelettes, but I find that it's easier to access them if they're not in the little tub (this is a sign of my supreme laziness). So - no more excuses! Remove that makeup and wake up to beautiful, healthier skin.

Tagged - for the very first time!

It's Friday, yay!

And I've been tagged for the first time - thanks, Posey!

Here are the questions, along with my hopefully non-crappy answers:

What’s your favourite eye shadow color to wear? I'm going to have to go with anything gold or bronzey. I love a little bit of natural-but-better shimmer on the lids with some nice smudged brown liner. Looks great on my pale, freckled skin!

What’s the one product you wouldn’t leave your house without? Lip products, definitely. My friends laugh at me because I have one makeup bag that always has at least three glosses in it. They are usually one or all of the following (all by MAC): Flusterose, Viva Glam IV, or Peroxide.

What’s your favourite makeup look – high drama OR natural? Hm...this really depends on my mood. I would say that the look I wear most is more natural but with a twist (see above re: bronzey, smokey eyes).

Which feature do you play up the most? My eyes, for sure. I have unnaturally long eyelashes, which sounds great, but can actually be a pain. Imagine spending ten minutes doing your eyes only to ruin it all when your freshly-mascara-ed lashes hit your eyelid!

Which feature do you try to downplay/cover up? I have a slightly crooked nose - but I can't exactly cover it up, haha.

Your favourite makeup brand, if you could pick only ONE to exist? This is a really hard question. I know that probably everyone says this, but I would have to say MAC since their products perform consistently well (with a few exceptions).

Which product have you re-purchased OVER and OVER again? I'm not a big fan of buying one thing multiple times. I'm more of a "let's try out as much as possible!" kind of gal (ok, so maybe that means I'm a makeup whore). I would have to say though that after I finish this vial of MAC's Select Moisturecover, I will probably repurchase again and again. It's amazing.

Which product would you NEVER repurchase again and why? MAC's Penultimate liquid liner. I'm returning the one I have now. I know a lot of people love this stuff, but I wore it for the first time yesterday (flicked up at the ends for a pretty cat eye) - disaster. I barely brushed my eye while adjusting my glasses and it smudged. I'm talking black all over my eye. Not cool.

One beauty treatment you would always PAY to have done? I can do pretty much everything myself, including eyebrows, but I really suck at anything hair-related. Any cuts, colors, or treatments I would have to pay for, because I simply wouldn't know where to start. I've never been a "hair" girl, I usually just throw it up in a ponytail.

One beauty treatment you would NEVER pay to have done? I would likely never pay to have my makeup done. I remember having it done as a teenager at kiosks at the mall and thinking, "This person doesn't have a clue what they're doing." Nobody ever did it the way I liked. (I was once at a Clinique counter and the lady working there put orange shadow on my lids - yes, orange shadow on a pale, freckled blonde. You do the math.)

One beauty trick you can share with everyone? If you want to foil loose shadow and don't have any mixing medium, spray some Fix + on your brush and then dip it into your pigment. It works great, and is a lot more convenient than having to make homemade water and glycerin mixing medium every couple of weeks. Oh, and a second tip (I find this one invaluable) is to lean your head back when applying mascara. This helps keep the brush away from your eyelid so you don't end up with little black marks next to your lash line.

Best advice you've ever been given regarding beauty and makeup? Take care of your skin, for sure (this includes moisturizing and staying out of the sun). My mom gave me this advice. She's 53 and has the best skin I've ever seen on a woman her age. (Hi, mom!)

...and there you have it! A scary look into the mind of a beauty addict, hehe. I would tag some other folks, but since the blog is so new, I'm not sure who may be reading this that actually has a beauty blog of their own. That said, if you are reading this out there and want to post your own answers, please leave a comment!

Hope everyone is having a fab Friday. The weekend is upon us!

Katherine