Tag: estee lauder

The Wanderlust List #4 (Sonia G Cheek Pro Brush)

Published on by Nikki2 Comments

The wanderlust list is my way of enjoying and using items I already own. I hope to encourage myself and others to use some of the products we have rather than being so quick to buy something new. If this concept interests you, you can check out the previous versions of the Wanderlust List below.

Sonia G Cheek Pro Brush
Sonia G Cheek Pro , $46 on Beautylish.com(photo courtesy of Pinterest)

I put off writing this post for a while because I wasn’t entirely sure I was going to be strong enough to pass on this purchase. I didn’t want to say I was passing on a purchase and end up buying it anyway. Fortunately for me, I did resist and instead of buying the Sonia G Cheek Pro Brush, I decided to revisit my severely neglected Bobbi Brown blush brush.

Bobbi Brown Blush Brush Natural Hair
Bobbi Brown Blush Brush, $62

I’ve been pushing this brush around my collection for years now. It is a beautiful brush and it works well, I just don’t like using it as much as my other brushes. It is somewhat of a paddle style, but it manages to simultaneously be fluffier and more dense than other brushes. I do find it useful for hard to blend blushes, it can somehow really push the pigment around and blend it out without disturbing my foundation. Although that is impressive, I would just rather get rid of hard to blend blushes.

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Palette The Beauty Bible for Women of Colour Book Review and Swatches

Palette: The Beauty Bible for Women of Colour

Published on by NikkiLeave a comment

Don’t let the title scare you away; regardless of skin tone, the information in this book can be helpful. The publishing of this book is a necessary addition to the few makeup guides still available in print. I found out about The Beauty Bible for Women of Colour by Funmi Fetto from Vikeejeah on Youtube. Vikeejeah and four other YouTube Creators collaborated to all cover three products mentioned in the book. Kelsee Briana Jai, one of the collaborators, created a playlist of all five videos for easy viewing. I’ll also leave that below for easy watching.

I do want to mention that some of the write-ups in the book are more helpful than others. Some anecdotal parts aren’t that helpful in terms of how a product works, but I haven’t noticed any items that I felt wouldn’t be workable for deep skin tones. Overall, I have enjoyed reading through this book and am excited to check out some products I haven’t tried before.

I thought it would be fun to showcase some of the products covered in the book that I have tried. The book does cover skincare and hair care, but I’ll only be focusing on the makeup portion.

Foundations

Two of the foundations in the book that I have used are the Estee Lauder Doublewear and Nars Natural Radiant Longwear foundations. I already have a review of the Estee Lauder doublewear foundation, so if you want more details from a dry skin perspective, you can check that review out.

As for the NARS longwear foundation, it is still fairly new to me, so I’m still getting a feel for it. You can tell in the swatches below how matte the Estee Lauder is in comparison to the NARS’ Radiant finish. The one issue I have had with the NARS formula was that it accentuated texture really badly until I got my shade right. It looks much better on me now that I’ve switched to the shade Tahoe instead of Huahine and Syracuse.

Estee Lauder double wear shade 5w2 rich caramel and nars natural radiant longwear shade tahoe swatches
L to R: Estee Lauder doublewear 5W2 and NARS natural radiant longwear tahoe
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Estee Lauder Hot Spell Bronzer, Bobbi Brown Elvis Duran Bronzing Powder, NARS Punta Cana Bronzing Powder, Becca Ipanema Sun, Mac Totally Taupeless Bronzing Powder, Mac Sun Soaked Strip, Mac Your Wish Is My Command

The Summer of the Bronzer

Published on by Nikki2 Comments

Every time I turn around I swear there is another new bronzer being released.  Out of the new bronzer releases that have caught my eye I have purchased one limited edition and one permanent release.  I already did a full swatch post of my purchases from the limited edition Mac 2020 Summer Bronzing Collection if you want to check that out.  But in this post, you will get to see how the shade Totally Taupeless from that release compares to some others.

I also purchased the newly released NARS Bronzing Powder in the shade Punta Cana, if you have been wondering how that shade compares to other bronzers on the market.

NARS Punta Cana and Mac Totally Taupeless Bronzing Powder

Since Mac’s Bronzing Powder is the newest bronzer to the market that I’ve personally purchased that is the shade I used in every comparison grouping.  I included limited edition (LE) products that I own just in case anyone might be wondering how these new bronzers compare to items they may already have.  For foundation shade reference I am Mac C7/C8 and Estee Lauder 5W1/5W1.5.

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Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation 5W1 Bronze 5W1.5 Cinnamon 5W2 Rich Caramel Review and Swatches

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation Review

Published on by Nikki2 Comments

I’ve been wearing this foundation since 2014 and I have always found it challenging to find information specific to dry/sensitive skin and see swatches of the shades.  So I wanted to update my thoughts on the Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation here on this blog.

WHAT SHADE DO I WEAR?

Depending on the time of year I go back and forth between shades 5W1 Bronze and 5W2 Rich Caramel.  Sometime in 2019, Estee Lauder began releasing new shades and they created 5W1.5 Cinnamon.  Since it seemed to fall in between my shades I was hoping I’d be able to use that shade and get away with it all year long. I was disappointed to find out that 5W1.5 cinnamon actually reads darker on me than shade 5W2 Rich Caramel, but it also looks less orange.  I am pretty sure that means the undertone of 5W1.5 is better for me, but I have to use 5W1 in the center of my face otherwise I look darker than my body.  I think I can get away with it alone, but I feel like I look more like myself only using 5W1.5 on the perimeter of my face.  The brand has since added even more shades bringing the total number of shades to 56.  So it will still be challenging, but it is a great shade range that likely has something for most people.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation swatches (5W1 Bronze, 5W1.5 Cinnamon, 5W2 Rich Caramel) medium-dark skin

WHAT IS THE FINISH AND WEAR TIME?

This foundation has a matte finish and is very long-wearing on me.  It does have a reputation for being long-wearing across skin types, but there are always exceptions.  I do not believe that it is suitable for my dry skin without some manipulation.  Despite the matte finish, the minimal if any transfer onto clothing is unmatched in my experience.  The only other foundation I’ve used that I felt was transfer-proof was the now discontinued Covergirl Queen 3 in 1 foundation.  I personally prefer to prep my skin as needed in order to benefit from the transfer proof nature of the foundation.

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