L'Oreal | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Dec 28, 2012

Best Beauty Products of 2012

December 28, 2012 By Carleenp 4 Comments

2012 is almost at its close and it is time again for the annual best of the year awards. The list below are my favorite products that I covered in 2012. Click through the links to read the original reviews.

You can also see previous years here:

Urban Decay Naked Skin, with the Urban Decay Optical Blurring Brush: Naked skin wears incredibly well and, when applied and buffed with the optical blurring brush, it gives a flawless airbrushed look. It has become my all time favorite foundation.

Lorac Unzipped: This was the best of the nude/neutral palettes this year. A perfect selection of matte and shimmer shades.

Laura Mercier Artist Eyes Palette: A wonderful all around palette with shades perfect for just about any occasion.

Fyrinnae Eye Shadow: This indie company offers unique blends of high pigment micas and oxides for stunning shadow looks. Try their Pixie Epoxy for making super glittery shadows stay put!

Urban Decay Vice Palette: Who can resist a palette full of new UD shades? This one was a winner all around.

Nars Lahasa: Simply a beautiful purple dark taupe. Love it!

MAC Nail Lacquers: I love MAC nail polish and was glad to see them make a number of shades part of their regular collection.

Urban Decay Smoked Palette: Another winning palette from Urban Decay. This one offers all that you need for sultry smoky looks.

L’Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow: High pigment lightly pressed shadow at decent prices and readily available. Great for those who love pigments but want to save a few dollars.

Skin79 BB Cream: My favorite BB cream this year. It covers well and wears wonderfully.

Darling Girl Eye Shadow: Another indie brand with great pigment and a silky smooth formula. I like their base formulation quite a bit for a loose shadow. I also found a taupe that I am in love with among the samples that I ordered.

Cinderella Palette: A surprisingly good eye shadow palette that is more grown up than you would expect. Nice shades in an attractive package.

Lorac Pro Palette: Another wonderful all around eye shadow palette with a great selection of useful shades.

Essie Luxe Effects Top Coat and Bikini So Teeny: Bikini So Teeny was my favorite polish shade of the year, and a Luxe Effects top coat looked great over it!

The Balm Shady Lady Vol. 2: The Balm is seriously underrated in my opinion. The Shady Lady Volume 2 was one of their palettes that I tried this year and I found it to be super pigmented, with little fallout and long wear.

Youngblood Creme Powder Foundation: A very nice cream foundation that very well might have become my new favorite if Naked skin hadn't come into the picture. I still wear this one a lot too, especially when I want something more portable.

Silk’n Flash and Go: The hot new product in permanent home hair removal. This one can be used on the face. See our comparison to the Tria for decisions on which to buy (I love the Tria too).

Smashbox Masterclass: A super palette of shadows, blush, lip products, and highlighters. It is all that you need for any look with quality products.

Disclosures: Beauty and Fashion Tech 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

Filed Under: Eyeshadow, Face Products, Foundation, Hair Care, Hair Removal, Makeup, Nail Products, Palettes and Collections, Shopping lists, Skin Care Tagged With: Best of Lists, Essie, Fyrinnae, Home Laser Hair Removal, L'Oreal, Laura Mercier, Lorac, M.A.C., Makeup, Nars, Sephora, Skin 79, Skin Care, Urban Decay

Sep 27, 2012

L’Oreal Youth Code BB Cream Review

September 27, 2012 By Carleenp Leave a Comment

L’Oreal Youth Code BB Cream Illuminator is a new BB Cream type of product from L’Oreal. I was sent a tube for review, and it does a pretty nice job of moisturizing, covering, and illuminating.

Youth Code BB cream is a multi-tasker. It provides moisturizing coverage, while also including SPF protection and various skin nourishing ingredients. If you want a sheer makeup look, you can use this in place of your foundation. Coverage on it is more than the average tinted moisturizer, but still on the sheer side. I tend to like medium coverage, so I paired it a couple of times with a tinted mineral powder to get a bit more coverage in areas where I have some skin discoloration.

Below is a swatch of L’Oreal Youth Code BB Cream in the light shade. I didn’t blend this in so you can see the shade a bit better. I felt that the light shade matched me quite well.

The cream applies well and feels good. It is moisturizing, but not oily. I had no issues using it on my oily and acne prone skin. Overall, I am impressed with the product. It is probably the first BB cream type of product from a brand available at your local drugstore that I felt could really live up to the BB Cream name.

You can find L’Oreal Youth Code BB Cream Illuminator at your local drugstore or big box retailer.

Brand Statement: Youth Code BB Cream Illuminator instantly evens, illuminates, perfects, moisturizes, and protects skin. In one week, tone and texture are improved and skin is healthier looking.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by L’Oreal Paris via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of L’Oreal Paris.

Filed Under: Makeup, Skin Care Tagged With: BB Cream, L'Oreal, Swatches

Sep 24, 2012

L’Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow Swatches, Review, and Video

September 24, 2012 By Carleenp 1 Comment

L’Oreal Infallible Eye Shadow is a cross between loose and pressed pigment. Basically, it is a loose powder that must have just a bit of medium added so that it presses nicely in the pot and doesn't have a lot of fall out when applied, yet it is not a firm as a true pressed pigment.

I bought six shades of L’Oreal Infallible shadow to swatch and rather like them. the pigment is good and they are easier to apply that truly loose pigment. Here are photos of the pot, which comes with a presser.

Below are swatches of the shades Infinite Sky, Perpetual Purple, Smoldering Plum, Eternal Sunshine, Golden Sage, and Sultry Smoke. The pigment is quite good in all of these. For the best effect, wear them with an eye primer, such as Urban Decay Primer Potion.

Here is an eye look with Eternal Sunshine and Perpetual Purple. I didn’t get as good of cameral light as I would like, so the gold doesn’t show its sparkle here quite as much as it does in person.