Product Review -- Tarte Confidence Creamy Powder Foundation

I've been purchasing Tarte face products (Oh, who am I kidding? All manner of Tarte products actually) like it's going out of style lately.

I mean, in the past several months, I've tried two new foundations and a concealer... and yet, every time another product hits the shelves, I'll all over it.

Case in point: the new Tarte Confidence Creamy Powder Foundation.

I've mentioned before how difficult it can be to find a powder that plays well with my dry skin, so as soon as I saw the word "creamy" in its title, I knew that I had to give this powder a try.

Product Review -- Maybelline Brow Drama Pomade Crayon

I've got to be honest.

For a long time, I didn't think doing my brows was important.

Really, the most I would do is comb them and use a clear gel to comb them into place.

They're not naturally perfect by any stretch of the imagination -- I went a little tweezers-crazy in high school so there'll a little sparse in a couple of spots -- but I've just never really thought it made much difference whether I filled them in or not.

Then I had someone run a little brow pencil through them -- nothing crazy or too heavy -- and I couldn't believe how much better I looked.

So now, I always take the time to put at least a little something in my brows when I'm doing my makeup, and I have quite a few pencils, powders, colored gels, etc. that work really well for it.

But there are some days I'm going for a more low-key look or I'm in a rush and don't really have time to do my brows more carefully.

Fortunately, I've found a product that's perfect just for days like that, the Maybelline Eyestudio Brow Drama Pomade Crayon.

Product Review -- Tarte Empowered Hybrid Gel Foundation

How many foundations does one person really need?

It's probably safe to say that the answer is considerably less the number currently sitting in my foundation drawer.

But that doesn't stop me from wanting to try every new formula that hits the market -- which is the only way to explain how the Tarte Empowered Hybrid Gel Foundation wound up in my collection. 

It wasn't that long ago that I tried the Rainforest of the Sea Water Foundation, another of Tarte's new foundation, and I liked that one so much that I figured it was definitely worth a shot to try the Empowered formula.

Product Review -- Maybelline Color Tattoo Concentrated Crayons

I absolutely love the Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Shadows.

In fact, I think they're probably my favorite cream shadow that I've tried.

That's because they work just as well on their own as they do beneath a powder eye shadow as a colored base -- and in my experience, it's tough finding a cream shadow that works well on its own because they're either too sheer or crease too easily or just disappear within a few hours.

So when I heard Maybelline was coming out with a crayon form of the Color Tattoos -- because while I love them to death, I'm not always in the mood to use my finger to apply my eye shadow or base (I'll use a brush with the Color Tattoos sometimes, but I find they apply better with fingers) -- I was super excited.

All the performance of the regular Color Tattoos in more convenient packaging -- what's not to love?

Product Review -- Too Faced Peanut Butter and Jelly Eye Shadow Collection

I am pretty much obsessed with warm eye shadow shades.

That's because I have blue eyes, so anything with reddish or orange-y undertones makes them pop like nobody's business. Peach shadows are my absolute favorite, but rusty or red browns are also high on my list.

So when I first heard about Too Faced's Peanut Butter and Jelly Eye Shadow Collection, I knew I had to have it.

As its name implies, the palette is inspired by everyone's favorite sandwich, peanut butter and jelly, so it's mainly warm shades, including Peanut Butter from the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette, with a couple of purple shades throw in to represent jelly.

The Peanut Butter and Jelly Eye Shadow Collection is one of Too Faced's smaller palettes that comes in a metal tin. The packaging is adorable, as always, and there's a small mirror and instruction booklet inside with look ideas.

Product Review -- Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Aquacealer Concealer (and the Airbrusher Double-Ended Concealer Brush)

I usually have good luck with Tarte's face products.

That's because they're always coming out with new formulas, so there's usually something that's a good fit for the way my skin is acting at any given moment, and because they almost always have a shade that's light enough and not too yellow for my fair skin.

I tried the Rainforest of the Sea Water Foundation last year, when it was exclusively available through QVC, and I really like it -- it's extremely lightweight and looks very natural on the skin, while still offering medium to full coverage.

What's not to like?

That's why I was excited to try the Rainforest of the Sea Aquacealer Concealer, which recently came out with the larger launch of Tarte's Rainforest of the Sea collection.

Product Review -- NYX Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks

I'm always saying that I'm not a fan of matte liquid lipsticks, and yet, every time a new one comes out on the market, I find myself wanting to try it.

I'm not sure what that says about me, really.

Maybe I have a kind of love/hate relationship with liquid lipsticks.

Whatever my feelings about them may be, though, I was especially curious to try the NYX Lip Lingerie Liquid Lipsticks because I was intrigued by the idea of the line having a nude shade for everyone.

In fact, the range has 12 shades -- from super pale beige to richer brown tones -- so there probably is an option that would appeal to everyone and work with most skin tones.

Product Review -- Make Up For Ever Artist Palettes Vol. 1 & Vol. 3

A while back -- a year ago... maybe two? Sometimes, I lose track of time with all the new makeup coming out all the time -- Make Up For Ever reformulated their eye shadows.

Of course, I wanted to try them, and at the time, they put out a little rectangular palette that had five or six of the new Artist Shadows in them that I purchased so I could try several shades at once. I liked them quite a bit and kept meaning to try some of the individual shadows.

With all the other makeup out there, I never got around to it.

So when Make Up Forever put out their Artist Palettes, which contain nine shades from their permanent line, I decided I had to give them a try -- because each shadow in the palette contains 0.06 grams of product, while the individual shadows contain 0.07.

Which means you're getting nine, nearly full size shadows that retail for $21 each for just $44.

That's a pretty amazing value.

Product Review -- NYX Pro Foundation Mixer in White

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know that I have super fair skin.

Like Casper the Friendly Ghost fair.

I don't mind it -- I avoid the sun and self-tanners like the plague on purpose -- but it is often a problem when it comes to finding foundation (or even concealer) shades.

I can't tell you how many times I've purchased the lightest shade in a brand's foundation color range only to find that it's too dark.

A million?

A billion?

Well, yeah, probably not that much but enough that it's seriously frustrating.

There are foundation mixers on the market, of course, which usually come in white and other correcting shades, but I've never had much luck with them.

Several higher end brands like MAC and FACE atelier have white foundations, but they're all over $30, and while I freely spend money on makeup all the time, I resent the idea of having to pay that much for a product that I'm just using to make another product work for me.

I've tried more affordable white foundations too, like Manic Panic's Dreamtone Foundation, but I've had issues with the consistency of those and how they make the foundation I'm trying to lighten break down in a strange way.

Enter the NYX Pro Foundation Mixer in White.