The holiday makeup sneak peeks are really rolling in and this one I LOVE by Jouer Cosmetics. These gorgeous highlighters will be available in three shades: Citrine, Topaz and Rose Quartz. They will be available September 8th. They are not technically holiday, because they will be permanent in the Jouer collection. They will be priced at around $22 each. Rose Quartz will definitely be on my buy list!
Here’s a sneak peek of the new Lorac Mega Pro 3 palette. I would love to say that I’m excited but after buying the Lorac Pro 3, I feel like the formula has changed. The shimmer shades were so powdery that the fall out was horrible.
This palette doesn’t scream anything extraordinary but it would offer a lot of every day looks. Pomegranate is the only shade with any real “pop” from the palette. It might have been nice to add a few more bright shades to add more depth. I’m a little underwhelmed. I think Mega Pro 2 had better color selection.
No news on its release but you should expect it around fall for around $59. Start saving those Ulta points. A lower price tag could make it worth the purchase.
It’s not even September but holiday sneak peeks are already starting to appear in the beauty world. Who else gets uber excited for these??? I love the holiday collections! Here is a sneak peek at what Charlotte Tilbury has in store for us this holiday season. It will start to become available in October.
Charlotte’s World of Legendary Parties Advent Calendar (Retail $200) is made up of: a mini pot of Magic Cream, travel-size tubes of Take it All Off, Miracle Glow, Wonder Glow, Goddess Skin and Supermodel Body, and smaller versions of Eyes to Mesmerize, Legendary Lashes, Penelope Pink and Jessica Red lipsticks, and Sweet Stiletto lip lacquer. This will definitely be on my Christmas list!
The World of Legendary Parties advent calendar box of treats and treasures will be available exclusively on charlottetilbury.com.
The Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Party Eyes Kit is an oversized ball ornament that houses a mini Legendary Lashes Mascara and a Rock’n’Khol pencil. And yes, it can be hung on the tree. Retail $27.
Charlotte Tilbury holiday 2016 Pocket Kisses mirrored compact in Kiss Me Quick. Also available in Jessica Red. Retail $22
The Dreamy Look in a Clutch includes quite a few products: Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Muse Luxury Palette of glow-enhancing eyeshadows; mini Legendary Lashes Mascara; mini Legendary Eye Liner in Bedroom Black; mini Legendary Lip Liner in Bitten Kiss; a lipstick in Secret Salma from the Matte Revolution Hot Lips collection; and a Tilbury tutorial on a USB key. Retails for $128
Marc Jacobs has launched a new Air Blush that comes with the claim it lasts for 24 hours! If you wear makeup as much as I do you know that blush is usually the first to go, faded to non-existence after a few hours of wear. I did not wear it for a full 24 hours but this is what it looked like after 9 hours of being the in Texas heat. That means 100 degrees and a 110 heat index, 100% humidity.
This is in the color Kinks and Kisses. It retails for a whopping $42 at Sephora.com which is a steep price for blush. But I will say this it does give you a good amount of product, coming in at .282oz.
One side is a lighter pink and the other is a peachy color. You can swipe your brush across for a custom blend or focus on one side for a stronger pink or peach tone. It is very buttery soft, little to no kick off, and very pigmented. I also like the luxury feel to the compact. It is large shiny black compact with a large mirror.
I received this for my review, so I did not buy it. But I would buy it. In fact I’d like at least one other….Lush and Libido is one I’d like to buy. The staying power justifies the price for me.
It seems kind of a joke that Sephora named their rewards system, where users had banked between 1,000 to 10,000 points their “Epic” Rewards when it was a complete and utter epic failure. Users, like myself, were disappointed by what Sephora promised to be amazing gifts. They’ve been getting everyone geared up leading into Epic Rewards by offering 2x/3x/4x points on all purchases. It was a good strategy too. It led to an amazing surge in sales by women trying to bump up their beauty point banks and score some of the amazing gifts being offered (I have the full list below). Gifts ranged from Nars and Dior to a trip to Paris. If you’ve worked hard to reach Rouge status and you had a bunch of points just waiting this was the time to get amazing gifts. Except Sephora completely screwed it up.
First, they refused to give an official launch time. Women sat waiting, some waiting all night. Some time before noon they tweet that it was launching soon but couldn’t say when. And then….it was gone, all gone. If you had something in your cart, it was taken out; if you tried to checkout you were logged out and your items were removed. Everything was gone in mere seconds leading a lot of people to wonder….just how many of these rewards did they actually have? Because it seems NO ONE is happy. And to add insult to injury, they have the nerve to say “Well, you can still get your 100, 250, 500 points value gifts”. You mean the crap women have been passing on repeatedly and that’s why their points are so high? Yeah, no thanks. How about letting women cash in points for a gift certificate? Sephora better come up with something soon. Because the only person who scored Sephora’s EPIC REWARD was Ulta, and that’s handing all its best customers to another store.
Here is a breakdown of what was offered and their estimated values:
| Reward | Description | Value |
| 1,000 | Givenchy-Le Rouge | $144 + bag |
| 1,000 | Becca | $186 |
| 1,000 | Dr Dennis Gross | $156 |
| 1,000 | Smashbox | $157 |
| 1,000 | Fresh | $150 + booklet |
| 1,000 | Bumble and Bumble | $157 + extras |
| 1,000 | Anastasia Beverly Hills | $170.50 + signature |
| 1,000 | Dior | $208 |
| 2,000 | NARS | $59 + $40 + signature |
| 2,000 | Yves Saint Laurent | $610 |
| 2,000 | Sephora | $425 |
| 2,000 | Skin, Inc. | $310 |
| 2,000 | KVD | $428 + box + signature |
| 2,000 | Bobbi Brown | $257 + bag |
| 2,000 | Benefit | $186 + bags |
| 2,000 | Stila | $264 + bag + booklet |
| 5,000 | Georgio Armani | $816 + bag |
| 5,000 | Elizabeth and James | $1,010 |
| 5,000 | Formula X | $800 |
| 5,000 | Too Faced | $588 + 2x Bag + 2xNecklace |
| 5,000 | Drybar | $575 |
| 5,000 | Tarte | $725 |
| 5,000 | Tory Burch | $898 |
| 10,000 | Marc Jacobs | Bag: ~$2,000 + $692 makeup |
| 10,000 | MUFE – NYC Trip | $596 makeup + trip + class |
| 10,000 | Glamglow – LA Trip | $531 + trip + tour |
| 10,000 | Chloe | $563 in beauty + ~$1500 accessories |
| 10,000 | Viktor & Rolf | Previous sold at Neiman Marcus
for $2,500 USD |
| 10,000 | Lancome – Paris Trip | $200 giftcards + ~$200 products + trip
(minimally, flights from the US to Paris usually start around $1,000 each. |
| 10,000 | Bvlgari | $465 beauty + ~$2,000 bag |
Watch out Birchbox and Ipsy! Sephora is launching their own beauty box called “Play!” And that single word alone describes what I feel every time I enter a Sephora. It is my playground. It’s a place I don’t feel pressured to buy, don’t feel pressured to purchase all from one particular brand. I get to play with products and buy what truly works for me.
Sephora entering into this market seems like a no-brainer. The land of the free sample and deluxe samples for points. I wonder if they will do a play on Birchbox’s service where you give feedback and earn credit toward full size products? Save my points and buy an expensive lipstick or eye shadow pallet?! I’m only guessing but it does seem like a likely approach since that is the reason a lot of Birchbox subscribers stay with the company after receiving seriously small samples that are usually given for free. I cancelled my Birchbox months ago after receiving several boring boxes (I don’t want to sample toothpaste, gum and pens).
Sephora’s Play! will contain five beauty products, cost $10 and contain products based around a particular theme. For September the theme is “Uncover the Essentials”. The box will include a Sephora Collection Rouge Infusion lip gloss, a Marc Jacobs Beauty Highlighter eyeliner, an Ole Henriksen Sheer Transformation Face Crème, a Bumble and bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil and a Glamglow Supercleanse cleanser. A Spotify playlist is also included in the contents. Play! is rolling out to the lucky cities: Boston, Columbus and Cincinnati with only 10,000 boxes available. The brand plans to expand to additional cities throughout the US in 2016. Each box will include a “Play! Book” offering beauty tricks and fun facts about the products. Customers will also be about to access content through the Sephora app. It will give customers a one-on-one tutorial on how to use the products.
Until Play! officially launches, I do have a couple of beauty boxes I’m loving!
Glossybox is a high-end beauty box. You get deluxe and full size products and your box is valued at around $100 each month. The cost is $21 a month and very well worth it. Here is a past box
Another new box line is Boxy Charm. They work with the same model as Glossybox, same price, same amount of high end products and they range in value from $100-125 each box. Here is a recent box. I am obsessed with the brow duo and brush!
After launching a successful nail polish line last year, the world famous shoe designer, Christian Louboutin is launching a line of lipsticks this fall. The line features 36 shades in three different textures – Silky Satin, Velvet Matte, and Sheer Voile – all which are inspired by Louboutin handbags and shoes.
The problem? They’re $90 a lipstick! Ouch! This will certainly hurt my wallet. I love high end beauty products and have been known to have quite a few $35 Yves Saint Laurent lippies, but $90 may be too steep for my blood. I did fall victim to the $50 nail polish in classic Louboutin red and it’s nice, but I don’t think it was worth $50. The bottle is pretty bulky and doubles as a self-defense weapon.
The lipstick cases do look like little works of art. I love the one that looks like a mermaid tail. The cap comes with a small ring at the top through which a ribbon is threaded, so you can turn it into a necklace. Well, I guess there’s justification to the price….it doubles as a necklace.
Christian Louboutin says “This precious object will be coveted by others. Suggesting a purse full of rare and precious stones that could have been discovered in Ali Baba’s cave, it will arouse lust and desire…and is made to be stolen.” Made to be stolen? Great! Now I have to take out insurance on my lipsticks too? This lipstick is getting more and more expensive by the minute. Lol
There are 20 shades in the Silky Satin collection, which offers a medium-to-full-coverage lip color with a satin finish and hint of shine. Velvet Matte features nine colors, is highly pigmented, and has a soft, matte finish. Sheer Voile also comes in nine shades, with a sheer finish for a veil of color with “luminous shine.”
And, because no color collection would be complete without it, each collection contains a signature Rouge Louboutin shade as one of its offerings. Those signature shades will be housed in a black lacquer case, unlike the rest of the line’s golden packaging.
The colors do look amazing! Hopefully Sephora will be quick to follow and you can demo them there. But for now, the lipsticks will be available in September at Saks.
Here are my current beauty bag MUST HAVES that will take you year round in the beauty and makeup department:
Pixi Unique Pink Tinted Brillance Lip Balm ($14.00)
This works with your pH level to create your own personal shade of pink. I have been using the Dior Lip Glow for a couple of years, which works just like this except the price is nearly double at $25. I bought this wanting to compare the two and Pixi blew away the Dior. I felt like the shade of pink was better, I liked that it was super hydrating and that the color is a slight stain so it lasts a long time! You can purchase online and earn 300 points for signing up and that will take off $3 making this $11 instead of $14!
Nuxe Shimmering Dry Oil (1.6 oz bottle $39)
I fell in love with Nuxe products on a trip to Paris in 2011. I had heard how fabulous the pharmacies were at having the most incredible beauty products and it didn’t disappoint. This oil by Nuxe is amazing. It is for face, body and hair. They do have a version without the shimmer but I find the shimmer very subtle and gives your hair and face a natural glow. It doesn’t look like you’re covered in glitter by no means. It just gives a subtle healthy looking glow. And the smell is amazing! I have a lot of allergies to perfumes, and this did not bother me at all.
Nuxe Reve de Miel Moisturizer (1.5oz $39)
This is hands down the BEST moisturizer I’ve ever used and I feel like I’ve tried them all. I stopped using this for about a year as I was trying a lot of different high end moisturizers that were coming in my monthly box subscriptions and nothing compares to this. I recently went back to it and never again will I stop using it. Great for super dry skin like me, but they have others for oily skin and anti-aging.
Bodyography Brow Duo (Price $19)
The Essential Brow Trio. Featuring three matte brow powders in one handy compact flattering for all hair colors. This multifunctional product can act as a matte eyeshadow and liner as well! It lasts all day long and I’ve slept in it and woken up to still perfect brows. I used to use Anastasia’s brow pencil but this little duo is perfection. You can blend and make your own color.
I would not get the duo without the brow brush. It really creates the perfect shape to your brows. Brow brush, $19.00
Loreal Infallible Makeup Pro-Setting Spray ($12-15)
This sets your makeup in a few sprays. It is gentle and non-irritating and can stand up against the hot days of summer. No one wants their makeup dripping down their face. I tested this out at the beach. I wanted to see if it could hold up through a day of sun and sand and it did! Normally I don’t wear makeup to the beach but I wanted to see how good this actually is and it passed the test.
The name is something else, huh? But this seriously is the holy grail of mascaras. It has fibers so it thickens and lengthens. And like some other fiber mascaras, it is not hard to remove. The brush is big and helps really separate and lengthen your lashes.
Dr. Jart+ BB Cream SPF 45 ($39)
This BB Cream offers really good full coverage but without being heavy. Has an SPF 45 while also containing anti-aging properties. My face is dry and this is very hydrating. It’s a great multi-tasking beauty balm that I’ve been devoted to. Comes in two different shades. I use the light to medium.
A moisturizer, sunscreen, and treatment serum, this all-in-one product also includes advanced brightening properties. Ideal under makeup, its natural-looking coverage minimizes the appearance of imperfections and evens the skintone. Antioxidant bio-peptides and adenosine protect skin from harsh environmental factors while restoring firmness and elasticity. This lightweight formula features mineral sunscreens to provide broad spectrum sun protection from both UVA and UVB rays. Skin is left looking smooth, perfect, and natural.
The Target Beauty Box is back and the price has come down from $7 to $5! It is listed as a $38 value and it does have some nice products. The lipstick is valued at $5-7 so that one product right there justifies the price. Hopefully I’ll receive a good color for my skintone. I’m really excited to try the setting spray, those are always so pricey at makeup stores.
Here are the products it includes:
Pout Perfection – For long-lasting color, use a lip pencil to line and fill in your lips (we recommend a neutral color or one that’s slightly darker). Then, top it off with Maybelline Color Elixir for a high-gloss, high-impact look. PRICE $5.49-6.99
Get Set – The secret to flawless skin is just a spray away. First, prep and prime skin to create an evenly moisturized base. Then, add a fave foundation like L’oréal Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation. Lightly mist L’Oréal Infallible Pro-Spray & Set over your lips, eyes and face to finish the look. PRICE $13.29
Double Agent – Quench thirsty skin in the morning with a light, non-greasy moisturizer. Before bed, using a thicker cream can help with skin renewal as you sleep. No time for two products? No problem! Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream instantly absorbs like a gel, but intensely moisturizes like a cream. PRICE $17.99
Brilliant Blowout – Start with a renewal shampoo like SheaMoisture Superfruit Complex 10-in-1 System to clean and brighten locks. Next, condition the bottom 3/4 of your hair, starting at the tips and avoiding the crown of your head. Layer in your favorite styling products, then blow dry from roots to tip using a round brunch to get super-soft hair for days. PRICE $10.99
(un)Done Updo – Pull hair back into a high but loose ponytail. Fasten with pins into a top knot and spray with TRESemme’ TRES Two Extra Hold Hairspray for a messy but pulled-together look. PRICE $1.47
The new Bobbi Brown HOT Collection has just launched! It is currently available at Sephora. I “like” Bobbi Brown but I don’t tend to “love” Bobbi Brown. I’m more of a Nars girl. Bobbi Brown tends to be more neutral based so I think this new Hot Collection really steps up and offers some bright pops of color for lips and shimmery lids and cheeks for spring and summer. Until this collection, I haven’t seen any blushes that have come close to the cult classic Orgasm by Nars. The blush kits offered in this new collection give a similar pink shimmery flush.
I ordered the lip pencil in Hot Berry and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived yesterday. It is bright and fun for spring and summer. It reminds me of YU by Nars. It came with a nice big sharpener too. I’m going for the eye palette next!
Bobbi Brown teamed up with Kate Upton as the poster girl for this new line. Kate is from Florida and Bobbi wanted her to showcase that beachy look with a woman who exudes easy confidence.
“This collection channels hot summer days, sexy summer nights and Kate’s easy confidence.” – Bobbi Brown
What the collection includes:
Limited Edition Hot Nudes Eye Palette [$65] Housed in a sleek black compact with neon pink accents, this flirty palette features eight totally wearable shades that flatter all skin tones. Layered or worn alone, the shades in the Hot Nudes Eye Palette create a variety of signature Bobbi looks—from subtle and sultry to super smokey.
Art Stick Limited Edition [$26]
Limited Edition Sheer Lip Color Shade Extensions [$26]
Sheer Lip Color is now available in three electric shades that deliver the perfect pop of color with a beautiful, sheer payoff. The creamy and lightweight formula is comfortable on lips, making it easier than ever to wear daring color.
Limited Edition Cheek Palettes Bobbi introduces Cheek Palettes [$45] A no- nonsense, natural-looking approach to highlighting cheeks. Featuring two shades of blush and a pearlescent highlighter, this palette enhances cheeks for a healthy, lifted effect. To achieve Bobbi’s signature “just pinched” cheek look, dust the softer shade of blush onto cheeks, and then follow with a pop of brighter blush, applied just on the apples of cheeks. Finish with the highlighter shade on top.
Ink Liner [$28] Perfect for Kate’s jet-setter lifestyle, this travel-ready, pen-style liner is the ideal on-the-go tool, delivering a perfect-every-time line. Available in blackest black, it’s Bobbi’s go-to trick for standout eyes.
COCO for Beauty Blog 