Luminizer : Beauty and Fashion Tech

Beauty Addicts Glimmer Sheers

Beauty Addicts Glimmer Sheers are fun new products. Each Duo contains a “glimmer,” which is a soft-focus highlighter, perfect for adding to the brow bone or cheek bone. The other side contains the “sheer,” clear gel luminizer. The gel contains jojoba oil, giving it a moisturizing and conditioning element. It can also be used on eyes or cheeks, but I like it best as a light gloss over lipstick.

The Duos come in four different shade, and I found the champagne shade to be a beautiful highlighter that works well with the current spring collections. Each Duo is $30.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

M.A.C. Cosmetics Strobe Liquid Lotion and Cream

The M.A.C. Strobe Collection consists of a number of tinted lip conditioners (read Girl Gloss Review), a re-release of M.A.C.’s Strobe Cream, and a new Strobe Lotion Liquid.

I tried M.A.C. Strobe Cream years back and found that it broke me out something terrible. I heard similar reports from a good number of other women as well. I can’t speak for the new version because I did not try it, but looking at an ingredient list at Spektra.net, I see a number of suspect ingredients, such as Glyceryl Stearate SE, Steareth 10, C13-14 Isoparaffin, and Propylene. So I plan to just avoid trying that one again. I did, however, try the new lotion.

The ingredient list for the lotion is not overly scary, but I did notice that it contains Hexylene Glycol, which is on some lists as a moderate risk for causing acne. It also has Bismuth, which is an irritant for some people, although I have never had an negative reactions to it.

The Strobe lotion is very light. This is quite a contrast to the cream, which I remember as being particularly thick. It provides a nice luminizing effect, that can add radiance to your look as long as you don’t cover it up with a bunch of foundation. I like the liquid for just a bit of cheek highlighting when I am only wearing powder mineral makeup on my lower face. I have not broken out from it, but I also have not used it on my entire face and have been restricting it to areas where I don’t typically get acne.

If you like illuminating lotions, you might want to check this one out. I does have a very nice effect.

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Review: Smashbox Soft Lights

A nice, but very subtle product, is Smashbox Soft Lights. Smashbox makes this illuminating powder/bronzer/blush in a variety of packages, from duos to a quad, to variegated bronzers. My experience with it has been mostly as a blush, although I tried the fusion bronzer in the store.

As a light blush or an illuminating powder, I like Soft Lights quite a bit, but it is very, very light. Even when I tried a darker shade, I had to build it up for it to show much, which is odd because the pots appear to be pretty well tinted. Generally, I tend to want a bit more color and if I just want only the sheen provided by a luminizing product, I will use a liquid product like Smashbox Artificial Light instead.

I was happier with Soft Lights as a bronzer. When I tried a bronzer variety in the store, I found that it was just right for my pale skin. I tend to look silly in all but the lightest of bronzers, and the soft lights was subtle enough that it looked good on me instead of leaving brown streaks on my cheeks on forehead. Smashbox also had some darker bronzers for people who want a deep shade or who have a darker skin tone.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Benefit Cosmetics Realness of Concealness Kit. Contains Ooh la Lift, High Beam, Lip Plump, Lemon Aid, and Boi-ing.

I have been discovering a number of new favorite products lately, with one of the best surprises being the ability to discover several all in one box. Benefit’s realness of concealness kit contains small versions of several of Benefit’s most popular products, all in one cute little package.For general concealing, the kit contains lemon aid and boi-ing.

Benefit’s lemon aid is a light yellow skin tone corrector developed for use on the eyelids. It does a great job of covering up red areas and evening out skin tone, especially on my very fair skin. It also works very well as an eyeshadow base. The only issue I had with it was that it didn’t spread quite as well as I would like. I have read suggestions for the full size version of putting it under an arm for a bit to warm it up and make it spread easier. Sure enough, on a warm day where I did not turn on the air conditioning, it spread much better. So keeping it on the warm side is a useful tip for using it. I also have used it under my eyes and put a bit of boi-ing over it. I’m not sure how darker skin tones would adapt to this product. It does cover red well, so it might still useful on darker skin if a darker concealer is placed over it.

Boi-ing is a standard brown tone concealer. The kit provides it in medium, which I thought would be too dark for me, but I find that it works fine on my pale skin if I put a bit of lemon aid under it. This concealer covers well, and spreads a bit better than the lemon aid. I like it quite a bit. Benefit sells boi-ing in three shades.

Also in the realness of concealness kit are three tubes consisting of high beam, ooh la lift, and lip plump. I am hooked on ooh la lift! This light pink cream has just a hint of shimmer to it and is supposed to give your eye area a cooling lift. It does have a bit of a cooling tingle that I like, but I don’t notice the lift part of it so much. Instead, the reason I like it so much is that when put over a bit of boi-ing, it makes for a really good light reflecting under eye concealer. Ooh la lift makes my under eye area look great! I will be purchasing a full size version of this product and using it regularly.

High Beam is a highlighting cream in a pinkish shade that works very well to highlight various areas. The shade seems to be pretty universally flattering. I have been using it on my upper cheekbones and on my brow bone and like it just fine.

Finally, the kit contains lip plump. This lip primer is OK. I’m not enamoured with it and likely will not purchase a full size version, but I also don’t dislike it and will use up the little tube in the kit. Light brown in color, and fairly thick, lip plump provides a decent base for lipstick. It takes a bit to dry and is a little sticky until it does so, which is something I tend to lack patience with. I can’t say that I noticed any plumping from it.

Overall, Benefit’s realness of concealness kit is a great way to try five of Benefit’s popular products all at once. It also is a nice way to have a bunch of concealing and luminating products all together in a convenient little kit. It would be great for travel.

You can buy Benefit online at a number of locations, including directly from the Benefit website
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Popularity: 9% [?]

Neutrogena Shimmer Sheers

I mentioned Neutrogena Shimmer Sheers in my review of Revlon’s Cream Blush, so I thought I would post a bit more about it.I find the shimmer sheers to be a pretty good way to add a subtle shimmer anywhere on the face without going overboard. The product is more than a highlighter or luminizing cream, such as Smashbox Arificial Light or LORAC Luminizer because it has some definite color to it. But it is still quite sheer and subtle. I like to use mesmerized, a very light pink shade, on my cheek bones under a generally matte blush. I also have used it on my brow bones. I haven’t tried on my lips, but it could work for shimmer there too. I suggest trying it over a lip stain. Overall, it is a fun and inexpensive way to add just a bit of subtle shimmer anywhere you want it.

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Popularity: 4% [?]