Weekly Beauty Edit 12.14.2014

Quick recap. The Weekly Beauty Edit is a snapshot of my week with beauty products. What's new in my collection, being returned, rising stars, edits and deletes, empties and whatever else comes to mind.

Haul-A-Lulu
Last week I was able to point out it was Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This week, however, is simply a typical week of shopping.

Chanel Rouge Allure in Pirate. How have I lived without Pirate???? It's a classic. I think even more so than Rouge Dior in 999 yet somehow Pirate has never made it into my collection. I was out shopping for dress boots today (success) and suddenly I looked up and there was the Chanel counter. I have been wanting to swatch the blush in Jersey since my current ove affair with City Color Be Matte blush in Coconut, a brownish apricot. I love it but it's very dusty in the pan. Makes me crazy. Jersey seemed to me to be that same color family but with a satin finish. Went to swatch it, fell in love and then the light bulb went off. I finally remembered to ask about Pirate. I have lots of reds and enjoy most of them. But I can now say I have found the perfect red on me. Ladies, don't give up that search!

Chanel Rouge Allure Gloss in Pirate. The lipstick has a satin finish. With my small, very lined lips I like a glossy finish particularly with darker colors. Gloss makes my lips look a bit fuller and camouflages the lines. I casually asked about the gloss. First of all, can we just talk about the packaging? Exact same as the lipstick. The Beauty Associate must have seen my eyes tear up and heard my head spinning from the beauty of it. She asked me if I need to sit down. Then....the swatch. Holy Mother of Lips. Pirate gloss is a tad brighter than the lipstick and has a little less blue in it. Very opaque, feels beautiful on the lips. Not sticky, not slippery, stays in place. I will wear a lip clear lip liner with it, I don't want anything to change the perfect color when combined with Pirate lipstick.

Chanel Pirate gloss on top, lipstick on the bottom

Chanel Joues Contraste, powder blush, in Jersey. At least I bought what I intended to buy! Is it possible for anyone to open a Chanel blush and resist that oh so magnificent scent? Not sure which I love more, the scent of Guerlain Meteorites or Chanel blush.  This color comes alive on the cheeks. Subtle,

everyday shade, perfect for the office or the grocery store. Pair it with a bright lip and it gives the cheeks just enough lift and spirit to compliment the lip but yet not be a wallflower.  In direct sun, which I avoid at all costs, it might have a sparkle. The vast majority of time it has a satin sheen.

Isomers Retiniacin Serum. This is a potent serum combining niacin and retinol (10% combined) with an aim at lightening age spots. This is my second bottle. Isomers is out of Canada but sell via ShopHQ with extraordinary pricing. I do a lot to combat age spots, mostly broad spectrum SPF daily and avoiding the sun, but at my age,  the spots are still there. Does it work? I believe it helps. I don't have much variation in my skin care. What I do works. I added this about 6 months ago and a few lighter spots are gone, other larger and darker spots are lighter. I would not say my spots are bad, simply annoying.

Rouge Bunny Rouge Time Defying foundation in Wheat. Full review coming in a few days. Beautiful foundation once I found the right application method and primer.

L'oreal polish in Masked Affair. A micro shimmer, halographic pale pale dusty grey that pulls lavender. Applied like a dream. Color was a little lighter than in the bottle. Part of the "Dark Side of Grey" collection. I love all 8 colors in this collection. I have $20 in Walgreens Jingle Cash to use this week and I know what I'm

spending it on!

Garnier Nutrisse hair color in Medium Natural Brown. What more can I say? Time to banish the grey roots, again. I buy whatever is on sale but given equal pricing, I will buy Garnier.

Kiss 02 False Lashes. For a year now (ok, maybe 10 years), I have been practicing the application of false lashes. For a year now, I have had epic fails. If you know the Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel are working on the candy line, that would be me trying to apply lashes. The harder I try, the worse it gets. Somehow these Kiss 02s looked like they might work on my small eyes. I actually gone one on! It was straight, it stuck on and I didn't blind myself. I didn't put the second one on as I wanted to savor in the success.  I have great lengthy because I use Latisse but the volume is dismal. I don't like most volumizing mascara because they are too much. Simple false lashes would solve my problem of natural volume.

Joico K-Pak Intense Hydrator, 8.5 oz . Deal of the month! This was on clearance at Walgreens from  $19.99 to $4.30. It had to be a mistake. None of the other K-Pak items were on sale. This is a very deeply hydrating and repairing conditioner typically used following a protein reconstructing treatment.

Edits and Deletes
Laura Geller Spackle primer in Ethereal. In general, I'm not a fan of Laura Geller primers. They do help foundation last longer but I need more than that from a primer. I need a primer to blur my pores and to help control oil. Laura Geller primers make me oilier, faster. In testing my new Rouge Bunny Rouge foundation, it did not work well with my mattifying primers, the look was too flat. Worked ok with my Hourglass Veil but I thought maybe it needed a luminizing primer. Worked beautifully with L'oreal Magic Lumi so I thought I'd try the Laura Geller Ethereal. No. Oil slick by 10:00. I love Laura Geller and feel like a traitor ranting on the product that made her famous. But Spackle and my oily skin are not meant to be.

Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation Serum. Not to be confused with the No Foundation Foundation. Got it? I have not tried the No Foundation Foundation but have been loving the new technology behind the serum foundations. My top favorites are YSL Fusion Ink and Maybelline Dream Wonder Fluid. Perricone MD is good but when worn side by side with YSL, the YSL simply looks better on me and lasts longer.  I definitely like the Perricone better than the Laura Mercier Smooth Finish Flawless and Lancome Nude Miracle, both serum style foundations. I have to start cutting the cord on some of my liquid foundations. They take up a lot of room!

Cheers,
Lulu

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