Makeup

In my book, creamier is usually better. This applies to how I like my coffee, my desserts of choice, and most of the time, how I prefer my makeup products. This is definitely the case when it comes to concealer, where anything less than the perfect creamy texture is almost guaranteed to lead to caking, flaking, or just plain looking bad.

Now fresh off the New York Fashion Week circuit, artistry brand NARS has released its new Radiant Creamy Concealer — a build-able and (very importantly!) ultra blend-able concealer that passed the backstage, runway, real-way, and up-close photography test all with flying colors. The product is crafted for all skin types and provides medium to high build-able coverage in a natural finish with light diffusing technology that adds radiance and blurs imperfections. Despite the heavy duty performance of the concealer, the actual texture is light and silky and doesn’t add any kind of weight.

I tested a dollap of the concealer on an super fair patch on my wrist so I could monitor how the product and color wore and faded throughout the day. The color absorbs into the skin very quickly upon application so it never sits on top of it, therefore eliminating any concerns for creasing or looking ashy or dry. Once blended, the concealer also does. not. budge. making it super easy to apply and then forget about for the entire day. I’m someone who always feels the need to wear foundation or BB Cream, but I actually felt confident enough to go without after a strategic application of this new NARS concealer. Another winner from the brand and definitely a new staple product for me!

Available now on Narscosmetics.com and everywhere NARS is sold on March 1.

It is thrilling to encounter beauty in different forms, inside and out, so I applaud MAKE, the very first for-benefit color cosmetics line! I recently discovered MAKE just before a cold-escaping trip to Miami and it was perfect timing, as I was in dire need of a fresh sun-kissed look minus the heaviness of winter.  Mentally, it was also refreshing to find out I was supporting the We See Beauty Foundation which is dedicated to accelerate women-led, worker owned cooperatives. When looking beautiful leads to building sustainable communities, there’s no way to go wrong!

Here’s my perfect formula for that youthful “no makeup” (wink, wink) look using my new MAKE obsessions: Gilded eyeshadow which adds just shimmer highlight and dimension without heavy color, satin finish blush in Marie Antoinette, a sheer light pink lipstick aptly named “Ballet Flats,” and Cream Luminous Lip Gloss in nude just to add that polish! In just five minutes, I felt transformed and pool-ready. Just before dinner, I applied the same regimen with a bit of added eyeliner and a darker shadow and was ready for a night on Lincoln Road.

Also take a minute to check out WeSeeBeauty.com  which is way more than cool site for buying beautiful colors. There are products that tell stories rooted deeply in worldwide support for women. The first project starts in Brooklyn, NY with Do Good Be Beautiful, which creates and sells healthy cleaning and personal care products. It’s also a creative outlet, involving two artists each season working to create a collection. A former Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen collaborator, Faye Toogood is an interior designer who partnered with makeup artist Ayami Nishimura to create the New Medieval Collection. One-third of MAKE product sales support We See Beauty, so buy away and feel good about it- you’re helping yourself while supporting an amazing organization. Partner with MAKE and celebrate beauty in a new way!

Ahh, spring. Even though I live in Los Angeles now and don’t really have to suffer through “winter” anymore, it still gets cold here (relatively speaking) and I’m still always excited when the new spring collections come out and remind me that warmer weather is just around the corner. So, naturally, I was super happy to get my hands on a few new products from Stila that just scream “Spring!”

The new Color Balm Lipsticks are a really interesting mix of lipstick, lip balm and lip gloss. They’re very pigmented, which I’m happy about because my pet peeve in lip products is when you spend a lot of money on them and then can barely notice that they’re on your lips. Luckily, that’s not the case here at all — I tried out Valentina, an orange poppy shade, and Gemma, a pink violet, and both of them have tons of color to them. However, they’re not only colorful, they’re also moisturizing and shiny (hence the balm and gloss aspects) and have two super cool touches to them — a mirrored cap for easy application on the go and the sides of the tubes have the word “Stila” printed on them with the color of the shade peeking through, so you don’t have to open the lipstick to see which shade you’ve got. Such a good idea!

I also tried out two of the new Stay All Day 3D Wet-to-Set Eyeshadow Trios.  They come in several different color palettes and I tested First Light, a trio of browns and pinks, and Safari, which is greens and browns. Like the name suggests, you can use them dry or apply them wet for a more saturated color payoff. The shadows all blend easily and lasted the whole day on me (with a primer) when applied wet. If you’re a Stila addict like me, definitely check these out.  What says “Spring is almost here” more than some new makeup?!

Like Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of an early spring comes the newest color to Fresh’s beloved Sugar Lip Treatment range. Petal, inspired by the “first bloom of spring,” is the makeup equivalent of a warm breeze, sprouting seeds, and first “all-clear” for bare legs. This pretty, pure pink tint is the stuff innocence is made out of. True to the “your lips but better” color impact of the other colors in Fresh’s cult favorite product range,  it goes on in a sheer, light pink, inhabiting that comfortable range between Chapstick and full-on lipstick/gloss. Supremely moisturizing, light, and beautiful, this has become my go-to for slicking on just before I venture into the frigid outdoors for a run. It’s just the thing to keep on my vanity table to remind me that spring and all of its brightness and color is near.

Coverups in makeup, like in real life, can be a messy ordeal. Too much coverup (both of the concealer and the lying sense) can make the situation worse. And when you want to avoid a Scarlett in the Library with a Candlestick situation, you need it to go away, fast. Fake Up, Benefit’s newest hydrating concealer, is your tool for making that happen. Its double ring design is ingenious, with an outside hydrating ring that’s formulated with Vitamin E and apple seed extract, and a concealing core. When you swipe it on, you get both rings at once, producing a hydrating mixture that effortlessly hides dark circles and most importantly, doesn’t settle into lines. It comes in three shades: light, medium and dark, retails for $24 and will be available in March.

 I was lucky enough to attend the launch party for Drew Barrymore’s new beauty line, Flower Beauty, and let me tell you: True Moviestar (both her and the line.) She is the kind of skilled talker that makes you feel like you’re the only person in the room–although you are probably the least important.  Most celebrity interviews go something like this: Interviewer lobbies as many questions towards the interviewee as possible (usually in a 10-15 time span.) Interviewer tries to ignore the growing amount of impatient people around her, trying to do the same thing. Interviewee is nice and accommodating, but trying to get through the press line in one piece while delivering the party message.

An interview with Drew is more like this: Drew walks casually around the party with her glass of Barrymore wine. Drew makes sure that you also have a glass of wine for the interview. Drew freely laughs loudly and often. And then it’s more like a conversation with Drew, with her asking how long you’ve been writing? What your site is about? In the back of your mind, you know that there are probably all-important questions (how does she like motherhood? What is she going to raise the baby as?,) that you should be asking, to make your encounter with her US Weekly worthy, but those kind of float away as you listen to her talk about she spends most of her days in sweatpants and scrunchies. (Stars! They’re just like us!) And then you get to the line, and she talks about how she really, really slaved over 181 SKUs and you reserve a little bit of doubt, because how many celebrities tell you about how involved they are in their new bag/skincare/clothing for dog company. (more…)

MAKE UP FOR EVER and I have been having a little bit of a love affair this year, so I was really excited to try their new Pro Finish Multi-Use Foundation.  I’m not normally a huge fan of powder foundations – I’m definitely more of a liquid foundation kind of girl – but if you’re looking for a light to medium coverage foundation that’s easily portable, this one might be right up your alley.

Like almost all of MAKE UP FOR EVER’S products, it’s available in a huge selection of shades, which is fabulous.  I’m so glad we’ve come such a long way from the days when foundations were available in five or so different colors.  That was the worst, right?  You can apply Pro Finish with the sponge included in the compact in two ways – wet or dry.  Applying it dry gives you more coverage and a matte finish, wet gives you sheerer coverage and a satin finish.  The coverage is definitely buildable, but I’d say if you’re looking for serious coverage, I’d still go with a liquid foundation over this – Pro Finish is more medium coverage (at least on me).  I love the texture of this powder and how easily and perfectly it blends into my skin (make sure you get color matched to ensure that you buy the perfect shade for your skin tone).  On me, it lasts almost all day so there’s really no need to reapply, but if you’re heading out for the night after work, it’s easy to just toss the compact in your bag for touch ups on the go.  I do wish it had an SPF in it, but since I always wear sunscreen anyway, that really isn’t too much of a sticking point.  The love affair continues!

Some people say their greatest fear is looking matte. My greatest fear is looking non-matte in pictures (along with an unusual fear of birds. Specifically, birds in NYC, who like the honey badger, just don’t care.) And in this age of high-flash iPhone/Instagram photography, I’ve come to find that skin foundation formulas with SPF or radiance, while beautiful in person, are my greatest fear realized. Looking over Facebook pictures from last night, I’m like, who is that Casper-face from last night? And then I realize, with horror, that it is me. It took me a while to realize that, no, I wasn’t suffering from a case of wrong foundation color, but that in the ultimate of first class problems, my skin was too radiant and reflecting too much high photography light, something I never thought possible. So when preparing for a night out, I reach for Jouer’s Matte Moisturizing Tint. A similar formula to their cult favorite, the Luminizing Moisturizing Tint, this has all the benefits of the original while making you look camera-ready. In person: your skin looks flawless, but most importantly, touchable and unmask-like. In photos: your skin still looks flawless, poreless, and most importantly, positively reflects light so that it you look natural and presentable on-camera. You look like you, but better, with this smooth formula that lies somewhere between a foundation and a traditional tinted moisturizer. Add a dab of highlighter around your cheekbones and temples and you’ll be ready for your close-up.

When it comes to corals, Benefit makes, hands down, some of the most beautiful and wearable ones on the market. I have been a long time user of ChaChaTint, a juicy mango stain that gives your cheeks that perfectly sheer wash of color. Then last year, I was obsessed with Hervana, which I used every single day in the morning and then again before heading out of work. Just one swirl over its pretty surface of peach, coral, and berry triangles, produced an angelic flush that worked with any makeup look I was going for. And now, my reach-for product is Benefit’s Fine One One (which by the way, I always mis-read as “One Fine Day,” because it is, every time I use it), a cream blush stick that combines pink champagne, sheer watermelon, and soft coral to produce color payoff that you can build from sheer and natural to bright and cheery.

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What’s better than a new lip wardrobe to start off the new year? I could not have been more excited to get my hands on Clinique’s new Chubby Stick Intense set, which is now everywhere : on my vanity, in my handbags, strewn across my work desk, even a spare stick or two stashed in my favorite coat pockets. With 8 colors running the gamut from a pretty dusky nude (Curviest Caramel) to a rich wine purple (Grandest Grape), and a a few vibrant pinks, reds and corals in between, there’s something in the set for practically any makeup mood I could be in. But what I love best about these is that at they also double as lip balms — packed with mango and shea butters that help nourish, soften, and smooth lips. The light, creamy texture stays moist on the lips throughout the day and the rich color payoff doesn’t fade even after hours. Users of the original Chubby Sticks will notice that the Intense set is much more pigmented and just one swipe is enough to give your lips that rich pop of juicy color. I would also particularly recommend this product for winter months when my lips are always cracked and normal lipsticks just accentuate the dryness. The Intense Chubby Sticks, on the other hand, immediately help smooth the surface and provide a light glossy finish that hides any hint of wintery patches. My favorite shades? Curviest Caramel for anytime wear, Chunkiest Chili for day or night red, and Roomiest Rose to bright a complexion. $16 each at Nordstrom or wherever Clinique is sold.