Sunday, April 27, 2014

Lovely, Lively Lips and More

Hi All,


It's been too long since I blabbed on about makeup, don't you think?  Today I'm here to chat about a few new favorites…..

Of course, you all know by now that I adore lip products.  And I've recently decided that sheerer is better.  Please excuse me for using an overworked word, but the best description of sheer lip color for me is, yes, "FRESH".  Sheer just looks young and fresh, and I can't get enough of it.  I recently spent a night watching HSN, something I don't normally do, especially because the host that night was probably my least favorite of all of theirs.  For some reason, I don't think other people feel the same way as I do, because she's on a LOT.  I shan't mention her name, so as not to be unkind, but there was a hint at the beginning of the sentence for those of you who are true HSN fans.  LOL  

In any event, Trish McEvoy is part of the HSN family, in a somewhat limited fashion, although I didn't actually purchase my products from HSN that night, wanting to see them in person before buying.  (Don't faint!  Sometimes I can exercise restraint when it comes to purchasing makeup!)  I made a trip to the Trish McEvoy counter at Nordstrom's recently, and did pick up two items that I saw that night on HSN.  The first is Essential Balm in Gorgeous Coral.  I LOVE this stuff!!!!  It is light and has a slight minty flavor, but the color is just so sheer and beautiful I can hardly stand it.  It is not the longest wearing product, but, considering how sheer it is, it does okay.  I believe there were several other colors from which to choose, one of them being more pink, but I cannot swear to it.

The second great recent lip find is from MAC.  I haven't purchased much from MAC in recent years, mostly because I hate the taste of the lip products.  It changed from what it had been in the past to something I cannot describe properly, but do not really like….Maybe it's vanilla, although in real life, I do like vanilla….puzzling!  In any event, the PatentPolish Lip Pencil is quite nice in the shade Revved Up, although that is not the shade I initially wanted to purchase.  It is a lighter version of the coral that I had in mind, but, unfortunately, the MAC counter at Nordstrom's only carried the shades in the 'first row' of the display, and because I just had an unstoppable urge to try one of them, I went home with Revved Up.  Turned out to be a very happy choice.  I'm not sure why the Nordstrom MAC counter only had four shades available.  Perhaps you'd have better luck at a freestanding MAC store.  In any event, here are the two lip pencil products swatched below.  

Top one is the Trish McEvoy product, and lower one is the MAC.  Dang, swatched like that, they appear quite similar!  Oh, why am I not surprised?  By now it must be obvious that my entire makeup stash consists of all of the same colors of lipsticks, merely in different packaging!!!!!





In any event, I highly recommend either of these, although to be honest, I favor the Trish McEvoy.  I am a huge fan of lip color 'pencils' these days.  Just can't get enough of them.  I believe I have previously written about the Clinique Chubby Sticks.  Still lovin' them, too!

Onward to the next group of products - eye brighteners!  Yep, we need them at our age……lucky for all of you, I've tried a few, and am here to tell you all about them.  I was first introduced to them in the Bare Minerals line, with the Stroke of Light  eye brightener, and that one is still my favorite.  It's readily available at Bare Minerals counters, found in your local Ulta stores.  It just does something very nice for the under eye area.  It comes in four different shades, ranging from the lightest to darkest.  I, of course, purchased the lightest, because even though I might not have the fairest of the fair skin tone, when it comes to my under eye area, I just want LIGHT!  Hopefully I'm not walking around looking like a raccoon. (I can never remember, is the white part closest to their eye, or does a small dark patch appear closer?)  And when you see the swatches, you will probably be able to tell why I like the Bare Minerals product the best - it's the LIGHTEST!  LOL

I also tried the Trish McEvoy Instant Eye Lift, having seen it demo'ed on HSN.  I believe that there might only be two choices of shades for this product, basically a very light one, and then a much darker one, and most people would probably know which one they would need.  If in doubt, the salesperson behind the counter could give advice.  

 The way Trish applies this is pretty ingenious.  Wish I had Photo Shop to be able to draw on a face to illustrate, but, alas, I do not own Photo Shop, so you will just have to picture it in your head.  You take the Instant Eye Lift (or any eye brightener product of your choosing), and basically draw an inverted triangle, using the bottom of your eye as the shortest part of the triangle, and extending the two longer sides of the triangle onto your cheek area.  There you go.  I have cleverly posted a photo below of the shape Trish used under the eye.  


This does a bit of  contouring, I guess, and lights up your face.  Of course, you can just use the stuff in a light tapping under the eye, as I usually do, foregoing the triangle, with equally nice results.  The under eye brighteners can often be used alone, with no concealer, as was told to me by the Bobbi Brown makeup artist who sold me the Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener recently.  The Tinted Eye Brightener comes in a variety of shades.  Best to get the advice of the makeup artist assisting you for the proper shade.  Had it been left up to me, I'd of course gone for the lightest shade……but since the makeup artist color-matched me, I went with her recommendation.  Maybe that's why I don't like the product quite as much as I thought I would. hahaha

Swatched below are my three eye brighteners, from top to bottom, they are:  Bobbi Brown's Tinted Eye Brightener, Trish McEvoy Instant Eye Lift, and Bare Minerals Stroke of Light:  


I think the thing to remember when using these is to make sure you blend, or tap, to make sure that they melt into the skin.  I think that the texture of the Bare Minerals is also the lightest of the three.  It just seems to add a very nice bit of brightness to my under eye area, and I sometimes skip the under eye concealer when using these products.  

Now I'm off to my local Ulta!  I understand from a reliable source that Mally products (formerly available only through QVC) are now lurking on the shelves!  Of course, I must go check it out.  I shall report back, I promise!  

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