Preview: Champagne Too Faced Shadow Insurance

If there was ever one eye makeup product my oil-slick eyelids could never go without, it would be Too Faced Shadow Insurance. And when I spotted this new Champagne shade I had to have it!

NEW for Spring 2013: Too Faced’s Shadow Insurance in Champange. Bottoms up!

Too Faced Shadow Insurance (TFSI) is a waterproof, sweat proof, Florida Hot-proof eye shadow primer that has always kept my eye makeup flawless all day at the office and all day slugging through the parks at Disney World. It is truly one of those indispensible products I cannot live without. Well, I could but my eye shadow makeup would look a hot mess and I’d be stuck using just eyeliner again.

This awesome eye shadow primer is described by Too Faced as a ‘nude shimmer’ eye shadow primer. As compared to Candlelight TFSI, it is more beige. Lemon Drop TFSI is matte and slightly yellow in contrast to Champagne TFSI. Frankly I believe every oily-eyelid gal should own every incarnation of TFSI, and brown girls *especially* need this new Champagne shade.

I picked mine up from Ulta but it is available at TooFaced.com and should be available shortly at Sephora.com and freestanding stores. Look for a review of this product in conjunction with my review of Urban Decay’s Naked 2 Palette coming later this month.

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Tarte Cosmetics 30% off Friends And Family Sale!

Tarte Friends & Family 30% off sale? Step away from the blush and nobody gets hurt!

If you’re a bona-fide Tartlette you understand full well my excitement at the 30% off Friends and Family sale Tarte Cosmetics has going on at their website. And even if you’re not a Tartlette yet, now is a great time to initiate yourself into the cosmetic awesomeness that Tarte. Use the code FFAUG through August 8, 2012.

Here are my recommended picks to haul during the sale.

Amazonian Clay Long-Wearing Blush

Blushaholics can’t truly call themselves one unless they own one of these amazing blushes. Made with Amazonian clay, they are moisturizing to dry skin yet oil-resistant enough to withstand even my OPEC-threatening oily skin. These blushes are very pigmented and you need very little to start with and the coverage is buildable. For those with dark skin, be wary of the very light shades as while the color does build up, fair shades will look ashy on dark skin. My favorite blush colors (and the ones I own) are Frisky, Tipsy, Amused and Flush. I’ve tested these in the hot Florida heat and while there was some fading of the color at about 4 – 5 hours, a quick re-touch with a little product brought it back to life.

Swatches of my beloved Tarte Amazonian Blushes!

Amazonian Clay SPF15 12 Hr Full Coverage Foundation

This foundation is waterproof and is so light on the skin it is a godsend for oily-skinned gals. Unfortunately I returned the color I bought (Deep) as it is made for dark-skinned beauties with yellow undertones, not us red undertoned gals. That aside the foundation performs well, blends effortlessly, is long-wearing and comfortable even on my sensitive acne-prone skin. Hopefully Tarte will make a dark shade with red undertones in the future.

Amazonian Clay emphasEYES Eyeliner

If I didn’t already own an obscene amount of MAC fluidlines and YSL gel eyeliners I would so haul some from Tarte. Made with Amazonian clay, these waterproof eyeliners are softer than MAC’s yet a bit stiffer than YSL’s but come in a very wearable range of five (5) shades. A nice bonus is all shades of Tarte’s waterproof eyeliner come with a brush to line and smudge the product on your lids.

So what are you hauling from the sale? Got anything you’ve just gotta have? Comment and let everyone know!

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Preview: NEW Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams!

Score one for the Sephora inside JCPenney for this one!

It’s late May, which means Miami Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week approaches…and so does new MUFE launches!

It turns out not only has Estee Lauder surprised me this week, but so has Make Up For Ever. They have added four (4) new aqua cream shades for eyes and cheeks that are so vibrant, so gorgeous, I had to acquire a few of them.

The four (4) new shades are:

23 — Acid Green (straight up frosty chartreuse green)
24 — Yellow (semi-matte taxicab yellow)
25 — Pastel Blue (frosty pastel blue–stunning!)
26 — Purple (looks a lot like the legendary #19 that never made it to the US on initial product launch)

The Aqua Creams I bought–so happy! (w/ flash)

Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams are my favorite cream shadows to use in the summer and in hot humid climates like Florida. I have tested these extensively in the hot July Florida weather and they hold up beautifully! The price has gone up to $23 per pot but you only need very little to get intense color payoff. If you think you can get the same kind of payoff with Maybellene’s Color Tattoo cream shadows, you are sadly mistaken. They are extremely good for a drugstore product but nowhere near the longevity and pigmentation as MUFE–especially if you have oily eyelids like I do.

These aqua creams are available NOW at Sephora.com. GO, GO, GO!!! But before you leave skid marks, check out the picspam!

Swatches from top: #26, #23, #24, #25 (flash)

The Aqua Creams I bought–so happy! (w/o flash HDR)

Gorgeous, perfect for summer and could probably withstand a nuke blast w/o creasing

#23 Acid Green: Stunning alone or under NARS Rated R green shadow

#25 Pastel Blue: An excellent choice to make brown eyes pop

#26 Purple: A long time coming and the PERFECT base for MUFE Eyeshadow #92.

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Urban Decay’s Friends and Family Sale: 20% OFF!!!

Urban Decay's Spring Friends & Family Sale: 20% OFF!

Greetings readers!

Are you ready to haul some Urban Decay cosmetics at 20% off?!? Ready or not, UrbanDecay.com is offering 20% off almost all regular and sale priced items using the code: FFSPRING12. Only the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette cannot have this discount applied to it.

Here are my recommended picks to haul during the sale:

24/7 Eye Shadow Pencil

I love how smooth and pigmented these shadow pencils are! The color is easy to build up and the range goes from neutral to full-on trendy. Create a gorgeous eye look even if you’re still a makeup noob.

24/7 Shadow Pencil Stash

I reviewed this set a few weeks back and absolutely fell in love with it. Currently sale priced at $12, the discount knocks it down to less than $10!! Go get one!

Supercurl Curling Mascara

This is my 2nd favorite mascara next to Givenchy’s Phenomen’Eyes only because it doesn’t come in a waterproof formula. This mascara is no joke as it quickly builds up and curls your lashes. I have yet to Florida Test it (I will in April) but when I can’t find my Givenchy mascara, I gladly grab this one.

Primer Potion

With the vastly-improved design and larger size, this is a good deal if you do not have oily to severely oily lids.

UrbanDecay.com offers free domestic shipping on all overs $50 or more. The sale ends 3/10/12.

Planning to haul from the sale? Share your finds in the Comments!

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Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Pencil Stash: The Rundown

I’ve never been a fan of Urban Decay’s 24/7 eye liner pencils. There, I said it. So it’s very wierd that I have become hopelessly addicted to their 24/7 eye shadow pencils. I had always swatched them in-store and thought they were appeared in Sephora, I snapped it up using my 20% VIB discount.

Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Shadow Pencil Stash. I can't lie--the bright blue is what made me buy it.

The set consists of five (5) travel-sized versions of the full sized 24/7 shadow pencils. I would say they are about 2/3rds the size of the full-sized ones. Packaged in a cardboard compartmentalized box in a plastic sleeve, the set consist of three (3) neutral shades and two (2) bright shades. As these are pencils and not classified as a liquid, cream or gel, this flat box it comes in is very handy to toss into your carry-on. Take that, TSA!

The Neutrals

The darkest neutral shade in the set, Rehab is a semi-matte taupe color. Very nice to use as an eyeliner or to ‘smoke out’ the edges of a neutral smokey eye. Juju is the second-darkest shade in this set and is a set-exclusive shade. It is a frosty taupe that looks very nice on the lid alone, blended with Rehab for a neutral smokey eye or lined with Clash for an intense pop of color. Sin has to be my favorite neutral of this whole bunch. It is a bright, shimmery beige color that is the most perfect thing to highlight the inner corners and browbone of your eyes. The color is shimmery as compared to the glittery annoyance that is Midnight Cowboy, and you can buff it out with either UD’s Good Karma brush or another synthetic fiber blending brush (like e.l.f’s contouring blush from the Studio line) to blend out and tone down the shimmer to your liking.

The Brights

Let’s start with the obvious star of the bunch, Clash. Clash is a bright turquoise blue that reminds me of those pictures you see in travel magazines of the Caribbean Sea. It is a very shimmery color and while it packs a punch, if you use a light hand or a blending brush, it can provide a lovely cool wash of color to your eye look. If you have brown eyes like I do, blues and greens are your BFFs. Not daring to compete with brightness but instead with an intense dark sparkle, Delinquent is not for the faint of heart. You can use it for an intense smoky eye look, or a not-quite-black eyeliner.

From top: Clash, Sin, Juju, Rehab, Delinquent (w/ flash)

Thick and thin swatches from top: Clash, Juju, Sin, Rehab, Delinquent (w/ flash)

Without flash from top: Clash, Juju, Sin, Rehab, Delinquent

Color Hack

For comparison I’ve done swatches against some of the 12 hr waterproof eye shadow pencils Sephora has come out with. While the neutral shades appear to look very similar to the 24/7 shadow pencils and cover very well, they just aren’t as vibrant. UrbanDecay also bests the turquoise and violet Sephora pencils in vibrancy and opacity. Considering Urban Decay’s shadow pencils retail for $19 and Sephora’s retails for $12, if budget is an issue and you couldn’t get your hands on this set you can pull off a good color hack with Sephora eye shadow pencils.

As compared to the Sephora neutral shades, Urban Decay’s 24/7 shadow pencils go on smoother and offer more opaque coverage in fewer passes than the Sephora ones do. My only gripe is that this set doesn’t include the crazy gorgeous green Clinic or the reminiscent of the 80’s Morphine. If I had my druthers I would have gotten rid of Juju (it’s too close to Rehab in my opinion).

From top: UD Sin, Sephora Beige, UD Juju, Sephora Brown (w/ flash)

From top: Sephora Turquoise, UD Clash, Sephora Violet, UD Delinquent (no flash)

Brown Girl Notes

Another quality I look for is opacity when it comes to shadow pencils. It is easy for a shadow to cover fair to medium skin. It isn’t as easy when it comes to dark skin because the pigmentation needs to be heavier and that usually translates into a higher price. All five (5) of the 24/7 shadow pencils built up opacity very quickly with very few passes. Even when blended out the color still retains its vibrancy on my lids.

Smokey look w/ UD's 24/7 shadow pencils in Sin (inner lid & highlight), Juju (whole lid) and Rehab (blended in outer lid). Lipstick is Guerlain Rouge Automatique in Rose Bengale

Eyes lined with UD 24/7 shadow pencil in Clash. Lipstick is Chanel Rouge Allure Satin in 'Enviree' w/ Chanel Bagatelle glossimer (Spring 2012)

End-of-Line Recommendation

While the set is definitely a better deal than the single pencils ($7 compared to $12.56 for 2/3rds of the full sized price), the real value comes from the neutral shaded ones (Juju, Rehab, Clinic). While I believe these colors look best on cooler-toned skins, they are gorgeous enough to enhance all skin tones. Toss in the pretty violet purple and turquoise pencils and you have a set that is very versatile and ready to go jet-setting when you are. As of this writing, these sets are available at UrbanDecay.com, Sephora.com and Beauty.com.

Eyes 'smoked' with UD 24/7 shadow pencil in Rehab, lined with Delinquent. Lips in Chanel Rouge Allure Satin in Famous & Rouge Allure Laqcque in Triomphal (Christmas 2011)

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