Weekly Beauty Edit 4.19.2015

My week has been consumed with the Sephora VIB Rouge sale. How do I love thee, let me count the ways. I tried to stay on line so as to resist sensory overload. I placed one order. Then two. I had some things to return from a month or so ago and decided might as well go in person. I was going to print my "loves" list but according to my printer, it would have been 18 pages. Seriously? I'm a little eccentric but I am not walking into Sephora with an 18 page list. There's a limit to my craziness.

What's a girl to do? Of course, I have the Sephora app on my phone but I find the wi-fi is a bit spotty at the Sephora I go to. I carefully looked over my list, made myself a cup of coffee and proceeded to hand write a list of some of the items I wanted to swatch, test, sniff or sample. I crack myself up!

Haul-A-Lulu Palooza!!!
Lancome La Base Pro Pore Eraser Perfecting Makeup Primer - This is absolutely the winner winner chicken dinner best purchase of the palooza. Pore minimizing primers have come a long way. Benefit Porefessional, move over, there's a new kid in town! I am still very impressed with Smashbox's relatively news Pore Perfecting Primer but this one by Lancome is even better. At the store, I tested it on my hand and it looked as though I Photoshopped my skin. When I got home, I washed off my makeup and applied a fresh face of makeup using this primer and one of the new foundations I bought. I wore the same combination today. In love.

Sephora Teint Infusion Ethereal Natural Finish Foundation - A company puts "ethereal" in the name of anything and I'm trying it. Kind of like youthful or svelte, there are certain words that sing to me. This foundation lives up to its name. This is the foundation I tested over the Lancome Primer. (Maybe it's the primer?) This is similar to a serum style foundation but it is thicker. It glides on like a serum foundation, covers beautifully in a medium plus coverage but easily could be applied sheer or built to full, and has a completely natural finish. Wore 8 hours on me. I did not set it and based on how it looked when I washed it off, it could have gone 10 hours. I'm going to do a side by side experiment with my Dior Nude Air, which I love and bought in a second color. I think I might like the Sephora better and it is half the price. I bought the shade Sand to match my NC 30-35, medium with yellow undertone skin color.

Marc Jacobs Re(Marc)able Full Coverage Concealer - This might be the most luxurious under eye concealer I have ever used. It comes in a pot but turn into liquid butter the moment your finger touches the product. Very pigmented and glides on. There is zero tugging. I use my finger and simply pat pat pat and it blends into my skin. And the it happened. It creased. My Maybelline does not crease. My MAC Prolongwear does not crease. As a matter of fact, I don't think any of my dozen  or so concealers crease on me. I never set my under eye concealer. I tried setting it today with Hourglass Ambient Lighting in Diffused, the yellow one. By the 4 hours mark, my eyes were a dry mess. I am determined to make this concealer work because it is the PERFECT shade for me in 4 Glow. I don't use concealer anywhere else on my face so no idea how it performs elsewhere.

Buxom True Nude Lip Foundation in Naked - What the heck is this thing? True Confessions. I fell off the wagon for one of my 2015 Beauty Resolution. We already discussed the shower gel fall off the wagon here, but this is the 'no more matte lipsticks' resolution. However, if I must defend myself, I read multiple reviews and watched multiple YouTube videos that this Buxom product filled in lip lines. That's my issue with matte lipsticks, my lips are too wrinkly and lined. Aha! A product to fill in the lines! Well, I have no idea what all these other chicks were reviewing but it sure as heck wasn't this. Or they have no idea what real wrinkly lips look like. C'mon over to my dock, baby. This is a fail and will be returned. P.S. this one has no color. Buxom has a few of these in various shade of nude but the "Naked" is clear.

Clinique Long Last Soft Matte Lipstick in Beauty - This color really is a beauty. A very medium, neutral pink. Soft yet has plenty of color. I think even those of  you who are afraid to put color on your lips would like this if you wanted to dip your toe in the world of big girl lipstick.  I spend a lot of time looking at other women's lips. Remember, one of my 2015 Beauty Resolutions is to get every woman in the world to wear lipstick every day of her life. I am green with envy each time I see beautiful full lips wearing matte. I'm even jealous of skinny, spinster lips that can wear matte. I might have been able to get past my lip wrinkles but it showed every dry speck on my lips. I exfoliate my lips regularly, thank you Sarah Happ Cake Confetti, and wear balm to bed every night. My lips might be wrinkly but they are hydrated. Not in this lipstick!

Sephora Lip Cream Stain 07 top & 09

Sephora Collection Lip Cream Stains - I had high hopes for these. They come in a matte or satin finish. I chose colors that were satin. Excuse me, but they sure as shootin' look like matte on me. Maybe a tad less than a typical matte but not satin for sure. The colors I bought are delicious. They are very pigmented and the doe foot is a bit challenging. I put a clear gloss on top and they looked very good. You might wonder why I can't put a gloss over the Clinique Soft Matte which is a good question. It's the clinging to dry specks that really ruins the Clinique. I'm using these Sephora as a true stain so they are not accentuating my lines too much.

Formula X Nail Polish in Unstoppable - Applied this last night and not liking it. Went on streaky and stayed streaky with the second coat. I won't use a polish that requires three coats. It didn't puddle at the cuticles but it didn't level, either. I'm looking for a brighter but still baby pink that does not have too much white in it. The search continues.

Formula X in Unstoppable

Dior Nude Air Foundation in 40 - I have this in 30 and it is an excellent color for me. I adore this foundation and wanted it in a summer color to match my self-tan. Now that I've discovered the Sephora Teint Infustion, the Dior might go back and I'll buy the Sephora in a summer color.

NARS Dual Intensity Blush in Frenzy - My heart be still. I bought the Dual Intensity Eye shadow and it is almost a foil finish. From looking at this blush on line, it has that same foil look in the pan. While at Sephora, I swatched it and it was more of a satin sheen. Blended out without effort, no patchiness, no powder in the pan, sold! My only complaint is that the pans are small so you need a slightly smaller than usual blush brush. I like paddle style blush brushes, Tarte is my favorite, and that works well. If you like the big fluffy ones, could be a challenge. I think the e.l.f. small stipple would work well, too.

NARS Dual Intensity Blush in Frenzy

Cover FX Custom Color Drops - This is my second bottle.  I wanted a color to use in the summer.

I'm waiting for a few items that should arrive tomorrow.  Sephora Collection Vitamin C blotting papers, Shiseido cotton, Bite Beauty Lip Stick in Vouvray, and Ardency Inn Modster Long Last Lip Vinyl in Studio Mix. 

I asked for samples of 
Dior Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet (perfume) 
Maison Martin Margiela Replica Jazz Club (perfume) 
Laura Mercier Oil Free Silk Creme foundation in Cashew Beige (a possible summer color for me)
Dr. Dennis Gross Clarifying Colloidal Sulfur Mas (wanted to see if has a scent since I hear it can be used as a mattifying primer but sulfur stinks!)
Murad Hydro Dynamic Ultimate Moisture for Eyes (before I drop $62 on an eye cream, it had better beat out my Shiseido Benefiance or Kiehls Rosa Arctica) 
First Aid Beauty Skin Rescue Oil-free Mattifying Gel (every mattifying whatever always disappoints, I've learned to always get samples first)

I hope you all had a chance to take advantage of the sale! 

Cheers,

Lulu

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