Makeup

Eons ago in chemistry lab, I learned the hard way (don’t touch fire!) that the hottest part of a flame burns blue.

Wouldn’t you know it? — the same holds true for the Clarins Ultramarine Eye Pencil ($23, new for spring 2009).

Ultramarine’s dark, shimmery sapphire blue put me into a trance. It applies with lots of pigment, gliding along the skin and depositing a rich blue line with barely any tugging at the skin.

It’s not waterproof, but it wears well along the lash line. On me it starts to smudge a little after six hours.

It even works great layered beneath powder eyeshadows. I tried pairing it with a mix of the violet, teal and pink shades from the Clarins Nature Temptations Palette for a psychedelic duo chrome effect that flashed from pink to green to teal to blue. 🙂
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Clarins must have designed their spring 2009 Nature Temptations Eye Colour Palette ($40) to tempt makeup lovers ruthlessly and without mercy. Floral embossed eyeshadow pans, a sexy silver compact and six hard-to-resist spring colors (get a load of that teal, AYE!) — it’s like tempting a dog with bacon!

Resistance appears futile, homies.

But check it: this palette is one of the best deals you’ll find this spring. Clarins set the price at $40, which at first glance seems expensive, but once you crunch the numbers the Nature Temptations Palette turns out to be a total bargain.

Swatches with flash

The palette contains six large pans of shimmery eyeshadow. Clarins mixed in three neutrals (tan, pink and peach) with three brights (plum, violet and plum), providing a balance of practical and fun shades. And like all the other Clarins eyeshadows I’ve tried, all six layer and blend to perfection, never appearing heavy or cakey on the skin.

A little quick makeup math reveals that the eyeshadows in the Nature Temptations Palette cost less per pan than any other eyeshadow Clarins currently sells. 🙂

Swatches without flash

Clarins sells eyeshadows in single pans for $20 each and in quads for $40 (versus $80 if four pans are purchased separately).

Nature Temptations stretches your dollars even more. Since you get six colors, each one breaks down to $6.60! Plus, I think the pans in the Nature Temptations Palette are a little larger than the pans in the regular quads.

Further Clarins Eyeshadow Research…

1. A Blue, Pink and Silver Eye with Clarins So Sublime Quartet
2. Clarins Jazzy Colours Fall Collection: Cooler than Jazz Hands

With six colors, there are endless possibilities for eye looks. I played with two this morning…

1. I started with violet on the lid and a slice of teal eyeshadow on bottom lash line.

2. Then, I switched it up with some plum. If the pastel look above says “I’m fun,” then this plum look says to the world, “I am a responsible citizen who pays my bills on time, yo.”
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Benefit’s new spring 2009 Full Finish Lipsticks ($18 each) make me want to bust out the pom poms and cheer for Team Lipstick!

Tabs cheers for Team Lipstick, too…

All three shades dress up this spring in full coverage color — no sheerness here, babes!

Passionista, a shimmery plum with gold micro-glitter adds a punch of color to the lips. I think she’ll look stylin’ paired with violet or gold eyeshadows. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Thrillin’ Brazillian, a shimmery golden peach, could look pretty fab on brown skin. It reminds of MAC High Tea lipstick (a light shimmery peach) but with more intense peach. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

Lady’s Choice, a dusty rose pink, works wonders with nude lips. It leans toward the warm end of the spectrum on me. If you’re partial to warmer pinks, you might give Lady’s Choice a try. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

Like Benefit’s other Full Coverage lipsticks, these new shades feel thick without seeming heavy. They’re unflavored but have a slight coconut scent that’s noticeable in the tube but almost undetectable applied.

I dunno why, but I’m going totally ga-ga for spring lipsticks. Perhaps the sexy hotness of Chanel’s Rouge Hydrabase lipsticks set the stage. Or maybe the amazing texture of the MAC Cremesheens pushed me over the proverbial lipstick edge. 🙂

Whatever set off my latest obsession, I’m going along with it, LOL! I haven’t been this excited about lipsticks in a long time.
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Sit that luscious booty down, girl, because Benefit’s three new Creaseless Cream Shadows ($19) are all about summer, summer, summer time (remember that Fresh Prince song?).

Buckle your seat belt and hold the eff on!

Technically, the new shades belong to Benefit’s new spring 2009 collection, but they’ve got summer written all over ’em.

Not one to release traditional spring colors just because other companies are, Benefit skipped the usual spring pastels and went with almost tropical coral, gold and violet.

Flyin’ Down To, Sippin’ N Dippin’, Samba-dy Loves Me

Flyin’ Down To, Samba-dy Loves Me, Sippin’ N Dippin’

Like Benefit’s other Creaseless Creams Shadows, the new spring shades feel moist, creamy and apply with rich pigmentation. Color lasts all day sans fading or creasing, too, and they build really well, applying layer upon layer without cake or crust.

As far as value is concerned, they work as more than mere eyeshadows. They multitask like a mo’ fo, filling in for eyeliners and eyeshadow primers in a pinch.

The new colors include…

Flying Down To, a shimmery violet that looks like it’ll look good by itself on the lid or paired with pastel pinks and purples. OOH! Imagine it together with a glossy violet lip. HOTNESS! Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A
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Say bonjour, bienvenue, hola and hello to Benefit’s newest plan to perfect your complexion: Hello Flawless ($34).

Expect to see it on Benefit counters this April.

It’s a buildable pressed powder that comes in six colors (four are already online). Each contains SPF 15.

I’ve been wearing Hello Flawless in Toffee all weekend long. It evened out my blotchy patches, layering effortlessly to create a canvas of uniform color.

Benefit calls Hello Flawless a flexible Jill-of-all trades powder that you can layer and build depending on your coverage needs. Each shade comes with a brush and a sponge housed in a secret ninja compartment under the compact. The different applicators can be used for different levels of coverage.

If your skin’s in good shape and all you need is sheer coverage, dust Hello Flawless on with the brush. It’ll absorb any excess oil and adds a light veil of color.

But if you get pimples and blotchy skin from time to time, you’re not the only one. When your skin won’t cooperate and you need medium-to-heavy coverage, apply Hello Flawless with the sponge.

After using both the sponge and the brush, I think I prefer the sponge.

The brush left an obvious layer of powder on my face, while the sponge made the powder look like it melted right into my skin. Even though the coverage was heavier with the sponge, I thought it looked more natural.

While some heavy coverage powders make my skin look too matte (like a mannequin), Hello Flawless doesn’t. Applied with the sponge, it covers everything, eliminating all of the red, splotchy patches around my nose, but no matter how much I apply, it doesn’t make my skin look unnatural.

I think it has something to do with the ratio of mica in the powder. Some powders overdo it on the mica. It’s included to add some lifelike illumination, but too much results in greasy looking skin, yuck! Hello Flawless gets the glow just right. It’s shiny but not overly so.

Benefit Hello Flawless Powder

Price: $34
Use: A buildable pressed powder with SPF; comes in sheer to heavy coverages
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

I give Hello Flawless mad props for having SPF and for offering full coverage that still looks natural, but I wish it came in a wider selection of colors.

Even though Toffee was a pretty good match for me, it wasn’t exact. Six colors just isn’t enough, especially for the brown end of the spectrum, yo!

If one of the Hello Flawless shades matches your skin tone, you’re in luck. For those lucky enough to have a match (check the colors they have available now on their site), it’s a great buildable powder.

Fashion Week coverage?

Hey, gals, can I get your input? New York Fashion Week’s in full effect, and I was wondering what ya’ll would like to see in terms of MBB coverage.

Unless you sound off, I’ll just keep chugging along with reviews and business as usual. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Remember last summer’s Teal Terror, aka Clarins Wonder Mint Mascara?

It was one of the best tinted mascaras I’d ever used, adding great volume, length, color AND separation.

Well, guess who’s at it again?

They say lightning never strikes the same place twice. I don’t know about that because Clarins’ latest tinted mascara sure shocked the heck out of me. Wonder Blue ($24) delivers an unmistakable denim blue tint to lashes, and, again, with great volume, length and separation.

Tinted mascaras tend to be more pomp than circumstance, rarely depositing much color at all. We saw it over and over again this past fall with a slew of disappointing plum-colored mascaras that basically looked black.

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