Laura Mercier Flawless Face Review

I have been a long time fan of Laura Mercier products. Laura Mercier is an all around quality line, but they are often are most associated with the “flawless face,” a method of creating a beautiful and smooth appearance with primer, foundation, concealer, and powder. Although I had used various combinations of Laura Mercier products in the past, and liked them quite a bit, I had never used all four flawless face steps in conjunction until now. I found that you can indeed achieve a very nice look using the product line as a whole, and I do recommend all four steps for the best results.

Every Woman Wants a Natural Flawless Look

Laura Mercier makes a number of different products for varying skin types and beauty needs. Since I have combination to oily skin, I tested the oil free products.  For details on learning more about choosing the exact products that will suit you best, see the brand information and links at the end of this post.

Laura Mercier’s oil free primer is a lotion type of primer. I like the lotion texture over that of a silicone based gel because it doesn’t feel as heavy and it blends in nicely. Being oil free, the primer does not leave any sort of sheen on the skin, but it is not drying either. That made it perfect for my combination skin. Overall, it provides a nice, smooth base for the next step in the process–applying foundation.

I love tinted moisturizers, provided that they are oil free, have SPF protection, and provide decent coverage to cover up some of my blotchy areas where I have some hyperpigmentation. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 – Oil Free fits that bill perfectly. I seriously love this product! First and foremost, this tinted moisturizer has real tint. I got good medium coverage with the product as long as I used it over the primer, yet it still felt lightweight. Interestingly, it is more sheer when used alone, and I rather like that flexibility. It provides just enough moisture to keep my dryer areas comfortable, yet I had no issues with it on oily areas . Because I have areas of increased pigmentation, constant sunscreen use is also important to me. With SPF 20 in the form of titanium dioxide, one of my preferred sunscreens, this product is perfect for me.  One note, some people report that titanium dioxide can cause acne. I personally have never had a problem with it though, and I have regularly worn the ingredient for many years. But if you are acne prone and concerned, take a look at one of the other Laura Mercier foundations instead. There are a number of good choices.

Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage is one of the products I had previously used and it remains one of my all time favorites for concealer. This two shade pan concealer can be applied with either a brush or fingertips and is best used over foundation. The concealer has a good consistency that gives it both good coverage and staying power. I like to use the darker of the two shades under my eyes, where it covers any dark circles beautifully, and I tend to blend the shades where needed to cover hyperpigmentation. It will blend in nicely and set well when you move to the final step—applying powder.

I had not previously tried Laura Mercier’s powder and was looking forward to doing so, having previously heard some rave reviews of it. The powder is indeed very nice. It is silky smooth, sets everything quite well, and leaves a beautiful matte finish. Although white in the jar, it is indeed invisible on the skin.

In the end, I really do love the Laura Mercier flawless face system. The products obviously are designed to work together, and they do so quite nicely. The ultimate look has good coverage, but doesn’t look overly made up. I recommend that anyone try the products, and especially do so if you have any problem areas where you want good coverage, yet still want a natural look.

Laura believes there are four steps to create a flawless face—primer, foundation, concealer, and
setting powder. Each product has been specifically developed to allow every woman to achieve
an incredibly even, smooth, yet natural-looking complexion.

For more information on Laura’s flawless philosophy and tips on how to use each product within
each step is located here: http://bit.ly/qEdysD

If you are telling others, they can get their perfect products to create their ultimate flawless face
using our flawless face finder: http://bit.ly/eOvLjf

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Laura Mercier via Glam Media. I received a sample to review as part of the program. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Laura Mercier. For more, see our disclosure page.

Photo licensed for use via Fotolia.

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Estee Lauder Resilience Lift Extreme Foundation Review

Do you have problems with dry skin and find that your foundation just sinks into wrinkles and pores? Or perhaps it flakes off with your powder?  Try a moisturizing foundation! One good choice, and personal favorite of mine, is Estee Lauder Resilience Lift Extreme Foundation. This Estee Lauder foundation provides both  lifting and moisture, along with sunscreen protection.

I purchased my Estee Lauder foundation in the shade Linen. I normally wear the second lightest of any foundation line and Linen worked quite well for me. Resilience lift has a really good balance between moisture and coverage. It feels much like a tinted moisturizer when applied and it blends nicely. But, unlike tinted moisturizers, the foundation has rather good coverage—much more than the sheer coverage you would get with a tint. It also wears well.I had no problems with dryness or flakes, and it stayed   on all day for me. Only a small amount is needed, as the product is creamy and covers well without using a whole lot of it. The foundation comes in a pump dispensed, glass bottle. I appreciate the better packaging since there are less worries about spillage or breakage.

As for the “extreme lifting” benefit, I wouldn’t call it “extreme.” the foundation does provide a bit of tightening and, since it is moisturizing,  it does help smooth out the appearance of wrinkles a bit. Or certainly it does so better than a non-moisture product would on dry skin. But don’t purchase Resilience Lift for the lifting claims. that isn’t it’s strong point. Instead, purchase it because it is an all around quality foundation for all day wear on dry skin.

I will likely use Estee Lauder Resilience Lift in the winter when I am dry and move to something different in summer, as my schizophrenic skin often gets oily then, making me switch from moisturizing foundation over to powder foundation.

Comparison Shop for Estee Lauder Cosmetics

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Blinc Kiss Me Mascara Review

Blinc Kiss Me Mascara is a popular tubing mascara. Tubing mascara really is rather interesting. The best tubing mascaras, and Kiss Me is one of them, forms “tubes” of product around your lashes when applied. Those tubes tend not to run, clump, smudge, or otherwise budge, even with a fair amount of rubbing. However, the mascara will also remove just fine with a warm water and some light pressure. Many contact lens wearers find tubing mascaras to be ideal because they tend to not flake the way some regular mascaras do.

Blinc Tubing Mascara

I tried Blinc Kiss Me over a period of a month.The wand is of average size and the mascara was easy to apply. the mascara did not smudge or flake, and it removed quite easily, although I found the wetter the cloth, the easier it was to remove. When tubing mascara comes off, it does so in tiny strings of product—these are the   “tubes” that had formed around the lashes. I wear contacts, so I definitely liked having a product that did not flake, but I do recommend that you removing contact lenses before removing any tubing mascara, as one of those tubes on your contact lens would not be a pleasant experience!

I did have some minor issues with clumping when I got careless with the mascara. It is always advisable to carefully wipe your mascara brush before application, and I admit to getting lazy with that at times. This is one mascara where that laziness will come back to haunt you,or rather, clump on you! But when I wiped the brush first all was fine.  Overall, I do really like Kiss Me mascara and consider it to be one of the best tubing mascaras around. You really can’t go wring with it.

Shop For Blinc Mascara

Disclosures: Girl Gloss at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

About the Author: Carleen Coulter

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Revlon Fabulash Review

Today brings a quickie Revlon Fabulash review!

Revlon Fabulash is an old standby in the mascara world. As a perennial favorite, it is a good choice for those looking for a good cheap drugstore mascara that will give decent length and won’t clump. I also like it for good general volume.

Fabulash Is A Good All Around Mascara

Fabulash has a large brush with fairly large gaps between the bristles. this allows the mascara to apply well, while avoiding that which we all dread most—clumpage. It provides a fair amount of length and volume as well, and it stays put all day. As a contact lens wearer, I appreciate the lack of flakes.

So, consider Fabulash to be a good basic beauty buy.

View the original article here

Blinc Kiss Me Mascara Review

Blinc Kiss Me Mascara is a popular tubing mascara. Tubing mascara really is rather interesting. The best tubing mascaras, and Kiss Me is one of them, forms “tubes” of product around your lashes when applied. Those tubes tend not to run, clump, smudge, or otherwise budge, even with a fair amount of rubbing. However, the mascara will also remove just fine with a warm water and some light pressure. Many contact lens wearers find tubing mascaras to be ideal because they tend to not flake the way some regular mascaras do.

Blinc Tubing Mascara

I tried Blinc Kiss Me over a period of a month.The wand is of average size and the mascara was easy to apply. the mascara did not smudge or flake, and it removed quite easily, although I found the wetter the cloth, the easier it was to remove. When tubing mascara comes off, it does so in tiny strings of product—these are the   “tubes” that had formed around the lashes. I wear contacts, so I definitely liked having a product that did not flake, but I do recommend that you removing contact lenses before removing any tubing mascara, as one of those tubes on your contact lens would not be a pleasant experience!

I did have some minor issues with clumping when I got careless with the mascara. It is always advisable to carefully wipe your mascara brush before application, and I admit to getting lazy with that at times. This is one mascara where that laziness will come back to haunt you,or rather, clump on you! But when I wiped the brush first all was fine.  Overall, I do really like Kiss Me mascara and consider it to be one of the best tubing mascaras around. You really can’t go wring with it.

Shop For Blinc Mascara

Disclosures: Girl Gloss at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

About the Author: Carleen Coulter

View the original article here

Tokidoki Perfetto Eyeliner Swatch and Review

I got a Tokidoki Perfetto eyeliner in my Tokidoki sodashop palette (link is to review and swatches on Beauty and Fashion Tech). I originally got the palette, and hence the liner, because I am a big Tokidoki fan. But it turns out that there is some quality makeup behind the Tokidoki items.

The Perfetto liner is a soft pen type of liner that can draw lines from thick to thin and that is incredibly pigmented and nicely waterproof. Yet, removal was a breeze with my favorite eye makeup remover, Lancome bi-Facial. (Also read why Bi-Facil is the best eye makeup remover ever)

Here is a swatch of my Tokidoki Perfetto liner in Carina:

The liners come in variety of shades and each features a different Tokidoki character.

Shop for Tokidoki Perfetto Eye Liners

Disclosures: Girl Gloss at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

About the Author: Carleen Coulter

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MAC Art Of Powders Swatches and Review

The MAC Art of Powders Collection consists of three pretty powder compacts, a highlighter, a bronzer, and an eye shadow. I always like looking at art compacts such as these, and it feels almost wrong messing them up by using them. Swatches of the highlighter and bronzer really didn’t show up well for me. I did, however, swatch the eye shadow and have a photo here.  The highlighter is a soft light pink and a press photo is shown below.

Next is a photo of the bronzer. It comes out as a light bronze despite how much pink is in the compact, but I don’t know what will happen as the top bronze shade wears down some so that more pink is picked up.

The Art of Powders eye shadow is a really pretty one. The shades are very luminous.

Here are the MAC Art of Powders swatches from sections of the eye shadow and of a mix across all of the shades. The mix is the first shade on the left and it came out pinker than I expected. It is difficult to get individual shades from the compact since each is rather small, but I managed to get some of them. In reality, I tend to think of these things more as collector items than as daily use items.

Art of Powders will be on the shelves on September 29, 2011.

Disclosure: This review is based on products provided by MAC. for more, please see the disclosure page.

Disclosures: Girl Gloss at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

About the Author: Carleen Coulter

View the original article here

MAC Posh Paradise Paint Pot Swatches and Review

The MAC Posh Paradise Collection includes a set of new paint pots. MAC paint pots are a thicker cream eye shadow that has a smooth texture and very long wear. Set with a bit of powder and you can get full day and evening coverage with no fading or creasing. I do love those paint pots, so I also love getting new shades of them! One word of warning, I have had paint pots dry out if I didn’t get the cap put back on nice and tight, so always tighten up the caps on these!!!

Here are MAC Paint Pot swatches in the following shades: Genuine Treasure, Idyllic, Nubile, and Pure Creation. I posted indoor photos of these on our sister site, Beauty and Fashion Tech. If you want additional views of them, you can see that post here: MAC Posh Paradise Swatches.I really love both Idyllic, which I do not think particularly matches MAC’s written description (“mid-tone copper bronze”) and Pure Creation, which is a gorgeous shimmering blue. I don’t tend to wear bright colors in eye shadow, but I sure do love looking at that shade!

The Posh Paradise collection will hit the shelves on September 15, 2011 and sometimes you can find the collections online a few days early. It is limited edition, so grab anything that want quickly!

Disclosure: This review is based on products supplied by the company being reviewed. For more, please see our disclosure policy and information.

Disclosures: Girl Gloss at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

About the Author: Carleen Coulter

View the original article here

MAC Art Of Powders Swatches and Review

The MAC Art of Powders Collection consists of three pretty powder compacts, a highlighter, a bronzer, and an eye shadow. I always like looking at art compacts such as these, and it feels almost wrong messing them up by using them. Swatches of the highlighter and bronzer really didn’t show up well for me. I did, however, swatch the eye shadow and have a photo here.  The highlighter is a soft light pink and a press photo is shown below.

Next is a photo of the bronzer. It comes out as a light bronze despite how much pink is in the compact, but I don’t know what will happen as the top bronze shade wears down some so that more pink is picked up.

The Art of Powders eye shadow is a really pretty one. The shades are very luminous.

Here are the MAC Art of Powders swatches from sections of the eye shadow and of a mix across all of the shades. The mix is the first shade on the left and it came out pinker than I expected. It is difficult to get individual shades from the compact since each is rather small, but I managed to get some of them. In reality, I tend to think of these things more as collector items than as daily use items.

Art of Powders will be on the shelves on September 29, 2011.

Disclosure: This review is based on products provided by MAC. for more, please see the disclosure page.

Disclosures: Girl Gloss at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

About the Author: Carleen Coulter

View the original article here