2008 September : Beauty and Fashion Tech

Budget Beauty! Tropez Eyeshadow Palettes

When I first wrote about the ultra cheap, but nice quality Tropez Cosmetics, my chief complaint was a lack of choices in eye shadow shades (read previous review). Well, that has now been improved!

Tropez now has a few very nice eye shadow palette available with six shades per palette. I picked one up at Walgreens and love the colors and the luminous quality of them. I also particularly love that the palettes come in at around $5 or less. Below are swatches from the palette that I choose from the Sunrise to Sunset line in Bali Blue:

The shadows have a nice shimmery luminance to them that isn’t overdone. They are well pigmented and lasted a full day for me. You can find them at Walgreens and K-Mart stores.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Splendid Weekend Reading

From the Splendicity community, comes this week best in beauty, fashion and shopping.

SHOPPING

NY Spender suggests that “if you buy only one pair of shoes this fall, buy one with stacked heels.”

Her Accessories is celebrating the cooler weather with a roundup of her favorite fall jackets.

Gleaming Things loves Givenchy’s look of layered chains, but they just aren’t in the budget right now - these picks are though!

Shopalicious finds a very stylish quilted handbag — with an eco-friendly twist! (Plus a coupon for 10% off!)

Chic by Nature has a great wrap top that you can wear out and then to bed.

There’s some serious inspiration afloat over at All That & a with more inspiration-themed jewelry.

FASHION

Sasha of Style Manila creates a boho-look on an 11-year old named Sylvie.

Tops 2 Bottoms shares an style idea, Layered, Belted, and Plaid for her weekly Work Wear Monday series.

Viva Woman shows you how corsages can make your attire more feminine and romantic.

Style…a work in progress finds inspiration in a little bear called Paddington

Petite Fashionista shows you how to update your Fall wardrobe with pieces that will keep you; comfy, cozy and chic!

The Space Between My Peers categorizes the looks at the bottom of the formality scale into Three Levels of Leisure.

BEAUTY

Beauty Bento Box features the elegantly packaged, eyeliner-slash-eyeshadow Kohl cosmetic, Guerlain Terracotta Loose Powder Kohl Liner.

Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog shows you how to get an easy, elegant smoky eye with the Smoky Eye Quad from Chanel.

My Women Stuff discusses whetherSilicone is good or bad for the skin.

Krizia from Beauty Match declares: We tried Pro-V Restoratives and said bye-bye FRIZZ!.

Beauty and Fashion Tech looks at three bright handbags that look more expensive than they are”.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Melasma Treament with Exuvince Skin Brightening Gel

I am constantly switching up my melasma treatment products. I do this for two reasons:

(1) I want to test them all for publication, and (2) It is actually good for you to switch products. Hyperpigmentation tends to respond best when different items are used, so switching treatment actives now and then can trigger your skin to react better to them.

My latest test item has been Exuviance Skin Brightening Gel. Right off the bat I noticed something different about this gel that I really liked: The gel is thicker than most. This makes it easier to apply only to discolored areas. The gel itself is hydroquinone free for those who are concerned about that ingredient. Instead of using hydroquinone as the primary agent it includes the following:

A skin-renewing blend of anti-aging Polyhydroxy and Alpha Hydroxy Acids (PHAs and AHAs), including Glycolic Acid, Lactic Acid, Citric Acid and Gluconolactone - along with skin brighteners including Kojic Acid, Vitamin C, Mulberry Extract, Bearberry Extract and Licorice.

That is a pretty decent list of ingredients that are known to be effective skin lighteners, making this a good one to try out. I used it for several weeks in conjuction with a hydroquinone product and was perfectly happy. But effectiveness overall is hard for me to judge, simply because I do use hydroquinone in conjuction with other products and am not willing to completely give it up when testing other items.

At $25, the Exuviance Skin Brightening Gel is also one of the most affordable brightening products on the market that includes a good blend of treatment actives. So this one is a good value as well.

Shop for Exuviance Skin Care Products

Popularity: 35% [?]

The Miche Handbag, One Bag With Multiple Personalities

This is one of the more fun items that I have gotten to try. The Miche handbag is a good quality bag that can be transformed in to a multitude of looks. The bag comes with a removable shell, so you can switch out shells to change the appearance of the bag.

The bag itself is good quality. It has a full zipper that snaps at one end so that the bag can fully open and expand. The shape is reminiscent of the older Kate Spade bags. The shells come in a variety of materials and have metal feet, giving the bag a high end look and feel.

Switching shells only takes a few seconds. Each shell is held on with credit card safe magnets, and changing just requires pulling the old one off and sticking the new one on. The shells stay in place very well and the look is attractive.

The site sells base bags in black and brown and a selection of shells. There are also some add on handle choice. I’m pretty hooked on my Miche bag and plan to pick up some more shells for it!

Popularity: 42% [?]

Fall Makeup Trends with M.A.C. Cosmetics

With their involvement in so many aspects of the beauty industry and multitude of runways shows, M.A.C. Cosmetics is always on top of the trends. Actually, they often set the trends! So I was happy to meet up with M.A.C. representative, Heather Park, and M.A.C. senior makeup artist, Konstantine Mironychev in Chicago a while back to take a look at what is in store for fall.

One of the top runway trends from M.A.C. that I have already seen on the street is the rich and dark lip. It is often worn with little else to make a statement on its own, or for a twist that is new this year, it can be coupled with a rich smoldering and stand-out eye color, as seen from the Cult of Cherry Collection pictured to the left.

The collection has some of the most interesting and gorgeous eye quads that I have seen from M.A.C. in some time and, the mattene lipsticks in the collection are fabulous. this is my most recommended fall collection.

Another trend for fall is the brightly colored eye, with neon themes from pop art or punk-rock glam looks inspired in part from the 80’s. For some particularly dramatic pigments, look to M.A.C.’s Overrich collection .

Pretty feminine looks with a bit of an artsy eye or almost nude or androgynous looks with a pink lip are also around. So if the deep dark shades are too much for you, pair a neutral mineralized skinfinish duo from the New View Collection with a pinkish nude lipglass for a simple, yet classy look. Or do the same thing but with more color on the lip if just the overdone eyes are too much for you.

Shop for M.A.C. Cosmetics

Popularity: 37% [?]

Weekend Reading From The Beauty Blog Network

Lilan from The Daily Cookie brings you tips on how to look your best in just 10 minutes with CoverGirl celebrity makeup artist Molly Stern!

Beauty Anonymous reviews Shiseido Integrate Glamerous Rouge lip gloss!

Musings of a Muse reviews NARS Super Orgasm with NARS Orgasm and NARS Super Orgasm Comparison Swatches and Product Photos!

A Touch of Blusher reviews Basics Eye Palette from Bobbi Brown’s holiday 2008 collection.

Beauty411 loves the new Chanel Smokey Eye Collection and tells you how to get the smokey eye look seen all over the runways at Fashion Week!

Is your hair unruly this time of year? Cybelesays recommends a few products to get your strands to behave!

Beauty and Fashion Tech is giving away a C&C California T-Shirt in Size Medium!

Girl Gloss is having a contest for Size Small C&C California T-shirt!

Beauty Junkie in SF found out that others have a love/hate relationship with Urban Decay’s Primer Potion! YouTube is a crazy thing.

See what hair products The Makeup Divas uses, recommends and reviews, to keep hair in tip top condition.

Rouge Deluxe has the scoop on Shu Uemura’s Holiday collection!

If you think you have to spend TONS of money for quality products, think again! Beauty Banter uncovers the 5 most fabulous drugstore body scrubs for under 10 bucks!

Makeup Moxie dishes on the new Cargo PlantLove Collection.

Check out Beauty in Real Life’s interview with Pamela Pekerman, fashion accessories expert and founder of bagtrends.com. Find out about her must haves for fall.

makeup loves me takes you behind the scenes and backstage at baby phat!

Spoiled Pretty is hosting a fashtastic giveaway. Enter to win products from Urban Decay’s fall 2008 collection…plus a sinfully chic Ananas clutch to put them in!!!

Worried about aging lips? 15 Minute Beauty Fanatic has a great new anti-aging lip product, coming soon to your drugstore!

Pursebuzz.com does an in depth review of the Givenchy Phenomen’Eyes Mascara. Is it love or bust?

Popularity: 22% [?]

Matching OPI Nail Polish to OPI Nic’s Sticks

Last week, I reviewed OPI Nic’s Sticks - Paint & Go Nail Laquer (read review). I loved the shade, but didn’t really love the polish. So I and wondered whether I could find the same shade in a regular polish. Off to Ulta I went, where I matched my Nic’s Stick to the OPI shade Elephantastic Pink. Below are the side by side results:

The shades were pretty darn close, although I still like the Nic’s Stick shade a bit more. I tested the OPI polish out at work and when I chipped it typing (something I regularly do to all polishes), I used the Nic’s Stick to fill it in.

It worked pretty well, as long as I filled in the chip and then went back over the entire nail with the Nic’s stick polish. The Nic’s Stick lacquer is sheer enough that a perfect match was not needed, but it does need that extra full coat to cover a chip.

Together, they are a pretty good pair! I might try this with other shades.

Shop for OPI Nail Products

Popularity: 29% [?]