Besties: Why I Love Bare Escentuals Eye Shadows, and the one reason why I hate them.

Bare Escentuals eye shadows $13 are THE BESTEST, hands down! Why? because they are pure pigment with no fillers (like the extra ingredients used to get pigments to squash together to form a pan). They are yucky-ingredient-free and can be easily layered, mixed, used as lipstick, liner, even blush - just add clear gloss, water or liquid sealer. You can even blend eye shadow primer potion with them to give the color more oomph. They go on so nicely and never, ever crease! These are the only eyeshadows I have used that do not crease. All other shadows say they don't crease, but these ones really don't. Bare Escentuals eyeshadows really don't crease. Am I being redundant yet?
I know MAC and Make Up For Ever has pigments but they give you too much product and therefore, jack up the price ($19.50, $19 respectively), BE has more "real " colors that are useable for everyday as opposed to the bright-orange-crazy-colors and glittery-drag-queen-colors that MAC/MUFE has. Bare Escentuals eyeshadows are just a perfect amount in a little pot. I have had my shadows for YEARS and they are still good as new. A little goes a long way ya'll.

The one thing I hate: The messiness. They get all over the place. You must be diligent with application or your bathroom and your face will be a hot mess. I guess that's the tradeoff.

Tip: Put a cotton round, kleenex, post it note, or your homework under your eye while applying to prevent fallout onto your gorgeous face.

What are my fave colors you ask?

From Left to Right - Queen Phyllis, Wild Woman Melissa, Drama, Downtown, Nude Beach, Snow, True Gold, and Soul. All Gorgeous nude & brown colors that look good on everyone.

Irony of the day: I made a huge mess while making these swatches.


Best Other Eyeshadows that are not loose pigments: Chanel, Urban Decay & NYX (Cheap!)


What are your fave eyeshadows and why? What do you think of Bare Escentuals eyeshadows?
What is your fave color eyeshadow?

Best Lip Plumping Glosses

What? These are my friends. You are so mean!

There are two different types of lip plumpers, ones that irritate your pout enough to cause swelling like DuWop Lip Venom  $16 (the first lip plumper, Lip Venom, is a blend of essential oils, including cinnamon, wintergreen, and ginger, that cause the blood to rush to the surface of the lips) and those that include "collagen microspheres" and hyaluronic acid like in LipFusion that attract moisture to the lips and therefore fattening them. Some glosses have a mixture of the two which is less irritating than the full-on Lip Venom. I hate Lip Venom because it is so intensely irritating to me. It feels like my lips are badly sunburned. Cheaper glosses (drugstore) typically contain the irritating ingredients since they are cheaper to manufacture.

Plumpers are for everyone. I have been blessed with naturally big lips but I still love the lip plumpers because they seem to fill in the fine lines around around the lipline and give a more youthful plump to the lips that isn't outrageous. I have been a huge fan of LipFusion lipglosses, the first ever lip gloss that actually did plump lips without irritating them to all hell. The only complaint I have about these glosses is, of course, the price tag. $38 is completely ridiculous. ARRRRRGGGGHHH. Robbery of the vain!

I've tried many many many lip plumpers and here are the best I've found so far...

LipFusion Micro-Injected Color Shine $38
Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips $18
MAC Plushglass $18


Each of these glosses plumps effectively without irritation and lasts a decent amount of time before you must reapply for the plumping effects.

LipFusion Micro-Injected Color Shine: The first non-irritating plumping gloss. Classic. Expensive. Comes in a wide range of colors. I like Bare and Bloom. These are both extremely natural and real colors that give you that healthy, natural look. Bare for pale-medium skin. Bloom for medium-dark skin. This gloss seems to be the gloss that doesn't last the longest but it has the best texture (non-sticky). It has a faint sweet citrus-y smell.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips: If I had to pick a favorite this one would be it. LipFusion would win hands-down if it had the same price tag as this one ($18) but it doesn't, so it is not my favorite. It has a slightly sticky texture and smells good. This one lasts a long time as far as gloss goes. The plumping effects last the longest with this one. I like the color Amber. It is a sheer peachy gold that looks good on everyone. Smells like caramel.

MAC Plushglass:  This is the gloss that lasts the longest. The plumping effects last a good while too but not as long as Buxom Lips. It is the most "irritating" of the glosses, but it is very tolerable. Smells like caramel and cinnamon. My favorite colors are Ample Pink (bare pink without shimmer) and Power Supply (healthy pink with gold shimmer). I wore this color for the first time and my BF said..."Whoa, You look pretty!" Score.



What are your favorite lip plumpers??

Besties: Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer

This concealer is hands down the best concealer on the planet earth. I was searching for a concealer that would cover my horrendous under-eye circles and this is the only concealer that I've tried that actually works. The color is perfect. I am a MAC NC 15-20 and I wear this in shade # 4 Flesh and sometimes  #2 Porcelain for a highlighting, more dramatic effect. The product doesn't cake or look cakey. Some reviews I read on Sephora.com and MakeUpAlley.com said this concealer is cakey and sets too fast. These people need to be wearing a good moisturizer. I swear it looks like real skin! I am so glad I got this product, even though the price tag sucks...$30. It is worth it. It is so densely pigmented that a little goes a long way. If you lightly pat this product on (as opposed to blending it in) It will cover anything flawlessly esp. zits, pigmentation and capillaries. It is supposed to be able to cover tattoos, but you would def need a color corrector (pink for light skin or salmon for med-dark skin) to cover a tattoo effectively.  
This concealer is as close to perfection as it gets. It is completely waterproof too. I wear it jogging and it stays put.
The packaging is a tube with a small twist off cap (similar to MAC select cover except MUFE has a longer tube) you can dispense a little or a lot easily. A little of this concealer goes a long way.

From Sephora.com
Full Cover Concealer

What it is:
An ultra long-lasting, matte finish, oil-free, waterproof, full coverage concealer.
What it is formulated to do:
Designed to cover major imperfections like scars, hyperpigmentation, major discoloration, burns, and tattoos. This light and creamy concealer contains a high concentration of pigments that stay put, making it perfect for use on the face, as well as the body.
Clinical Testing/Results:
Clinically tested on sensitive skin and dermatologically controlled for gentleness.

Besties: Japonesque Eyelash Curler

JAPONESQUE Precision Lash Curler $12
i got mine at ULTA
for precision curling
easy to use and manipulate
small and compact
comes with 2 silicone pad refills (attached to the curler - see pic)

NARS blushes... LOVE!

My fave NARS blushes - they are:

TORRID-a coral shimmer fair - medium skin tones
EXHIBIT-A-a bright red with a slight coral tinge - looks great on dark skin tones
ORGASM-a natural flush pink with gold shimmer - fair-medium skintones
AMOUR- a pinky coral with some slight bronze undertones for medium skintones - it's a great natural color

can i just say that i LOVE every one of my blushes and they LAST FOREVER! i use these colors on everyone - all shades! i even use EXHIBIT-A on myself and i am paler than casper the friendly ghost.
they are highly pigmented, come in matte and shimmer varieties, even glittery varieties (SUPER ORGASM). they go on sheer to bright with application and are completely and totally worth the price!! ($26)

P.S. i love that the new spring 2010 campaign is using Amber Valetta as their model. she is soooooo gorgeous! and she's 36!