Category: Beauty

I haven’t purchased anything from Make Up For Ever (MUFE) in a while, so I was excited to revisit the brand. The claims on this one don’t seem too crazy, although I’m not sure that I typically look at the claims for bronzers. MUFE says this is a long-wearing, blendable, buildable, easy to use bronzer with a smooth formula. Spoiler alert, I agree with them. It works well with both synthetic and natural hair brushes. It is firmly pressed, so there isn’t much powder disturbed when I dip a brush into the pan. The firm press doesn’t make it hard to pick up on a brush, which is nice. Considering my dry skin, I prefer a satin or glowy bronzer, but a matte finish for bronzer seems to be more on trend right now. I’m happy to report that this formula never looked dry on me, even when I tested it with Estee Lauder Double Wear.

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**MUFE Artist Bronzer 40 Warm Pecan, $36, 10g

Continue reading “Make Up For Ever (MUFE) Artist Bronzer (40 Warm Pecan Swatch)” →

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While I do enjoy the **Tom Ford Traceless Soft Matte Concealer, I wish it weren’t so expensive at $60. If you saw my post on the Tom Ford Highlighter last week, then you know I was less than impressed. I’m not going to become a regular shopper at the Tom Ford counter, but this concealer makes me a little curious to at least try a foundation from the brand. I probably won’t, since luxury brands often add alcohol and fragrance to their products, and those ingredients just don’t agree with my dry, eczema-prone skin. Regardless, today I’ll let you know about my experience with the Tom Ford Soft Matte Concealer so you can decide if it might be worth checking out for yourself.

Continue reading “Tom Ford Traceless Soft Matte Concealer 5WO Tan and 6WO Terra (Swatches)” →

If you can believe it, this limited edition Soleil De Feu Glow Highlighter from Tom Ford will set you back $95. If you are familiar with the Tom Ford brand, you probably can, but if not, this is a luxury cosmetics brand. I came across this highlighter while yet again shopping at a Cosmetics Company Store (an outlet store for Estee Lauder brands), so I was able to buy it for $42.75. I’ll cut to the chase, I’m so mad I bought this highlighter 😂. The only other highlighters that I currently own are the Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Divine Glow ($48) and the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish ($42), and I like them both a lot better than Tom Ford’s Highlighter. Let’s get into my reasons and who I think might still like this formula even though I didn’t.

Continue reading “Tom Ford Soleil De Feu Glow Highlighter 02 Oasis (Swatch)” →

I definitely went to the Cosmetics Company Store too many times this past holiday season 😂. I mentioned it recently in my review for the Bobbi Brown Bronzed Nudes Eye Shadow Palette, but the Cosmetics Company Store is a discount outlet for brands owned by Estee Lauder Companies. So anyway, on one of my trips to the store, I bought the Too Faced Cocoa Bold Em-Power Lipstick in the shades Ganache and Chocolate Lava for $13 (retail price $29). Too Faced describes the Cocoa Bold Formula as demi-matte, bold (color payoff), lightweight, comfortable, and long-wearing. As with many Too Faced products, this lipstick does have an added scent (chocolate raspberry). I can tolerate some fragrance in my lip products, but unfortunately, the scent in these lipsticks is too strong for my liking. I was able to test them out before I realized the scent was too much of a problem, so let’s get into swatches and how they perform.

Continue reading “Too Faced Cocoa Bold Lipsticks (Ganache and Chocolate Lava Swatches)” →

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The **Lancome Care and Glow Serum Concealer ($31) adds another option of skincare meets makeup to the beauty market. Lancome says this is 81% serum, and it really shows in the results I got from this product. I do feel like my skin benefits from the skincare aspects of this concealer (ceramides, peptides, and hyaluronic acid), but I don’t get the result that I want from a concealer. That said, I think this is a good product for someone looking for a radiant, hydrating concealer that can be built up to medium-ish coverage (with patience). 

Lancome Care and Glow Serum Concealer Ingredients

I wanted to bring particular attention to the ingredients of this concealer because they are incorrect on Lancome’s website. Initially, I was not going to try this concealer because the Lancome website lists it as having denatured alcohol, which is something I avoid as much as possible. However, when I went to Sephora one day, I decided to check the ingredients on the box, which was entirely different. From what I can tell, someone listed the ingredients for the Tient Idole Ultra Wear Foundation by mistake. A lot of brand websites will advise you to check the box of the item you are going to purchase for the most up-to-date ingredients. This is a good example of why that is important, in addition to the fact that products get reformulated and there isn’t always an announcement.

Continue reading “Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear Care and Glow Serum Concealer 405W (Swatch)” →

I’ve got a short one for you today. Charlotte Tilbury just released a new collection of lipsticks and lip liners and I bought the shade 90’s pink in both the K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick and the Lip Cheat Liner. I have done a full review of this K.I.S.S.I.N.G Formula that you can read by clicking here. I do find 90’s Pink is consistent with my experience with both the shades Glowing Jen and Nude Romance. 

Continue reading “Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Beauty Icon K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick and Lip Cheat 90s Pink (Swatches)” →

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Estee Lauder is promising just about everything with its new **Futurist Soft Touch brightening Skincealer ($38). They say it has a soft radiant finish, is long-wearing, has medium to full coverage, is non-creasing, will plump fine lines, and it will improve your skin’s hydration over time. That is a lot to deliver on (and I left some things out), and honestly, I think they should have promised less. I’m not even sure how many people pay attention to the claims, so maybe that isn’t much of an issue for some people. For me, I was looking for it to deliver on its claims of a radiant finish, ability to plump fine lines, having medium to full coverage, and lasting throughout my day with minimal creasing.

Continue reading “Estee Lauder Futurist Soft Touch Brightening Skincealer 4W (Swatch)” →

Bronzed Nudes Palette, $49 (All Nudes Eyeshadow Collection)

The All Nudes Eye Shadow Palette Collection from Bobbi Brown consists of three 5-pan color options. The options are Rosey Nudes, Smokey Nudes, and Bronzed Nudes which is the one that I have.

These 5-pan palettes come in a sturdy, weighted compact with a great mirror.  The palette has 3 matte shades (Latte, Pecan, Black Coffee) and 2 metallic shades (Sunrise and Iced Caramel). The metallics are easy to blend as one-and-done eyeshadows or in combination with each other.  I’ve also had no issues combining them with other brands, so that is good if you are someone who likes to mix and match with what you already have. The texture of these Bobbi Brown metallic eye shadows is slightly creamy and a little dense.  They are between a MAC frost finish and a Pat McGrath Metallic (not the special shades).  It has the firmer press of the MAC frost finish (I.e. amber lights, cranberry). Still, it has a similar creaminess and density that you would find in the Pat McGrath metallic formula (I.e. enraptured and metallics from the Bronze Borealis quad). Please keep in mind that this is just a point of reference, the Bobbi Brown metallic formula does not have the same level of shine or dimension as a Pat McGrath shadow (in my opinion). I would also say that the Bobbi Brown formula has more shine than the MAC frost finish and takes less building to get the opacity I want.

Continue reading “Bobbi Brown Bronzed Nudes Eye Shadow Palette (Swatches)” →