Holding the Line!

Hello Beauties!

I had a few queries regarding keeping lipstick/gloss in place stemming from my post a few days ago, and wanted to address them today. :)  Unfortunately, as we transition from Young Beauties to Older Beauties, there are little telltale signs of lost youth.  One of these is vertical lines above and below our lips.  Dang!  As someone who never smoked a cigarette in her life, and who mainly kept out of the rays of Old Sol, reading books, snacking, and playing the piano safe inside the cocoon of my house, I felt a little gypped to see these lines appearing about around my kisser several years back!  Heck, hadn't I done everything possible (with the small exception of being diligent about applying moisturizer, of course) to avoid getting these little buggers in the first place?  Wasn't it UNFAIR for me to be gifted with them?  Ha. Ha. Ha. One of the things you learn if you are blessed enough to reach Older Age is that LIFE IS NOT FAIR, so accept it and move the hell on!!!

Ahem.  On to sharing some products I have found work somewhat well to help keep the lipcolor where you put it - on your LIPS, NOT in the crevasses above and below your lips!  I'll be disappointingly honest and tell you that with some lipcolors/glosses, there is NOTHING that will keep them from travelling where no gloss should go.  Sad.  But true.  Short of erecting a permanent fence around your lips (not the most attractive option, IMO), if you are of a certain age and try to apply a creamy, gloppy color to your mouth, you are very liable to catch an accidental glimpse of yourself a short while later and want to sink into the earth right then and there, because your lips appear to have melted, or, in the alternative, been drawn on by a crazed clown.  So please stay away from lipcolors touted to be 'extra creamy' and glosses in general, because pretty much ANY gloss is too thin and creamy to not make an unauthorized trip to the Death Valley area surrounding an older beauty's lipline.......that said, I will say that I (makeup junkie that I am) own some glosses, and even use them occasionally (but mostly I buy them and after one disastrous use, pass them along to one of my Still Young four daughters).  One of my favorites is the Moxie gloss by Bare Minerals...or is it Bare Escentuals?  I never quite know how to refer to this company, and I should, because I own (gasp) hundreds of their products.......However, if you DO dare to venture into the Gloss Zone, please only apply a small daub to the very center of your bottom lip and then blot your lips together.  Any more gloss and you WILL be sorry.......

And I STILL have not gotten to the products I promised to mention, so here they are:  Urban Decay makes very good lipliners.  If you are an Older Beauty and do not need/use a lipliner, I kind of hate you.  I know that there are some of you out there who don't have the Crevasse Problem, and would you be willing to share some of your genes with me?  Dang.  Too late.  The majority of us need a little help keeping the lipcolor where we put it, and I have relied heavily on Urban Decay lipliners. You can pick a color that is good with the majority of your lipsticks.  For me, that would be Midnight Cowboy (and some of you might even be old enough to remember the movie......does that mean that the creators of the line are actually NOT YOUNG????), a kind of neutral brownish pink.  And if you prefer the 'clear' lipliner, Urban Decay offers Ozone.  I will warn you that Urban Decay also makes a white eyeliner (whatever FOR?) that sometimes can be mistaken for the clear lipliner, both being housed in a white pencil.  How do I know this?  A while back, I bought what I thought was a new Ozone lipliner, and arrived home to find I was now the proud owner of WHITE EYELINER!!@#$%^%$$#@!!!  Ulta is a wonderful place, though, and happily exchanged my stupidly purchased white eyeliner for the product I INTENDED to purchase. :)

I have also been liking the Mary Kay lipliners recently, and, again, my perfect shade is a pinkybrowny neutral called Neutral. ;)  Other lipliners I have known and loved include the now unavailable Bare Escentuals lipliner; Aveda lipliner; Cargo lipliner; and Mally lipliners (my friend Cece shared that Mally makes a good colorless lipliner, which I've not yet tried, but I will take her word on that!).  Basically, I believe that I've purchased nearly every lipliner ever offered in any cosmetics line......some that I recall NOT liking (either due to color selection or formula) are Smashbox, Lancome, and Hourglass.  I think it was the Hourglass one that was VERY expensive and touted by a Sephora employee to become waterproof that 'bled' all over the place.  Horrors!  Creating the very problem it was supposed to solve!

While a good lipliner will go pretty far in helping your lipcolor stay in place, there are additional steps that can be taken to help keep the color where you put it.  I was recently talked into purchasing some Lancome eyeshadow base (Nude) to use on my lips.  The Ulta employee told me that she'd never found a LIP base that worked the way it was supposed to, but that the Lancome eyeshadow base worked very well.  I'm just giving it a try now, and hopefully in a future post will have a good report for you.  I have used the Laura Geller Lip Spackle in the past to somewhat good effect, but no longer own any.  I will mention that if you choose to go the lip primer route, make sure that you apply it with a light hand, and apply it not only to your entire lip, but also blending it a bit above and below the lipline.  Otherwise it won't hold a thing.  I've considered doing a YouTube video to show how these things are applied, but my vanity precludes me from showing my unmadeup face to anyone but the immediate family, and even they rarely see it, as I stay up later and get up earlier than anyone else in the household!  ;)   A few of my favorite (and well-used) products below:

 From top to bottom:  Mary Kay lipliner in Neutral; Urban Decay lipliner in Ozone, and Urban Decay lipliner in Midnight Cowboy.

Also, the Lancome Eyeshadow Base:

Yikes, that photo looks very odd.  Hope it doesn't give you vertigo like it's giving me.......

Finally, I'd like to share a lipcolor I've recently been wearing a lot - it's the Loud and Clear Lip Sheer from Bare Minerals in Tangerine Trance:  (Sorry for the blurriness - I used the 'macro' setting on my camera, but I guess it wasn't all that successful!)

And here it is swatched on my wrinkly wrist:

It actually looks more sheer on my wrist than it does on my mouth....Oh, wait, I snapped a picture of my makeup job this morning, hoping that it looked somewhat decent in the picture.  I often feel that my face looks okay IRL, but when I try to take a picture, HUGE disappointment....is it just the camera?

Here I am this morning, wearing the aforementioned Loud & Clear lipcolor in Tangerine Trance; along with my Mary Kay lipliner in Neutral; some Bare Minerals blush in Confidence; Smashbox Brow Tech in Taupe; some Urban Decay brown shadow from the small Naked Palette (a Christmas gift from my fellow makeupaholic youngest daughter Kelly); and some Bare Minerals Lengthen and Curl mascara.  I am loving the Loud & Clear for its very sheer and pretty color.  At this point, it is only available in three colors....this Tangerine shade, and two others, one of which is a pink that might work for those of you with cool toned complexions.  The colors look kind of scary 'in the tube', but, at least in the case of the Tangerine, go on to be very wearable and soft looking!  Just perfect for an Old Broad! ;)  Oh, I forgot to mention that I am also wearing some Laura Geller concealer on the dark undereye circles and the dark inner eye corner circles.  That is probably one of the best ways to erase the years from the face - getting rid of the darkness around the eyes.  A MOST necessary piece in the makeup arsenal, girls!

Till next time! <3

The April Fool!

Well, since it's been quite the long time since my last musings, I should make this one extra-long, but don't worry, it will be fun. :)  And probably not all that long, as I am wanting to make the trek to my favorite clothing source:  the Eileen Fisher Company Store (read 'outlet' for 'company' and you get the drift).  In case any of you are in the Chicago area, the aforementioned store is located on Golf Road in Schaumburg, very close to the Woodfield Mall. I do not have the exact street address, but you should be able to find it if you really want to. ;)

Today I would like to share a few new makeup finds.  First, for the lips.  What else?   My favorite part of the face, for various reasons.....Okay, one of the reasons is that if you apply the right color to your lips, the rest of your face looks absolutely amazing.  Truth.  There are waaaay too many women out there walking around with the wrong color on their lips.  Too dark.  Too brown.  Too light. And, horrors!  NO LIPSTICK/GLOSS AT ALL!!!!!!!  Ladies, there is NO EXCUSE for going without lipcolor.  (Except maybe for being comatose, and even then, if you make sure that in your Living Will you designate a trusted friend/relative to apply that gloss in the ICU, you will still be covered.....).  

You think I'm kidding. Girls, I'm not.  Lipcolor really takes your face from good to sublime.  If you pick the right color! There is no real secret or trick to this.  It just involves trying on a LOT of different colors to see which lights up your face the best.  You don't have to buy them to try them on.  Any Sephora or Ulta, or the makeup counter at your favorite department store will be happy to accomodate your wish to try color on your lips.  I'm not entirely sure that I love the whole 'sanitizing' the lipstick thing and prefer nicking a small bit from the side of a pristine tester.  But any way you choose to do it, please get out there and try on some colors that you might not have looked at before.  As we get older, surprisingly, we often need a pop of color on the lips to brighten us up.  Yes, I know that the author of "How Not to Look Old" says that we Old Bags need to go light and pink on our lips.  Sorry, honey, I've got news for you:  that  doesn't work for all of us, and for some of us, it makes us look positively washed out!  I absolutely look brighter and younger when I am wearing a brighter shade of lipcolor.  And I'm not talking garish, I'm talking pretty.  And lively.  And pretty.  :)  Sometimes a color looks downright scary in the tube, but wonderful on the lips.  Again, I would refer you all to the fabulous Lisa Eldridge for videos of how to get different uses out of one lipcolor on her website:  www.lisaeldridgecom  If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on 'videos', you should be able to find the one where she talks about "How to Wear Dark Lipsticks and Look Good".  She demonstrates applying the lipstick with your finger for a stained look of a brighter color.  Very informative, and I adore her accent!

So onward to my latest discovery:  Stila Color Balm Lipstick.  I LOVE this stuff!  It's got my favorite pepperminty feel/scent, and a pretty decent range of colors to choose from.  I chose Isla, which is a warm shade, but there are lots of cool-toned shades to pick from as well.  Here is Isla, in the tube and on the wrist:

This product feels wonderful on the lips, and wears somewhat well.  It's definitely not a long-lasting lipcolor, but it stays put for a bit, as long as you're not eating a burger. :)
I have found it in person at both Sephora and Ulta, and I am sure that it would also be available on their websites.  I actually do not recall the price, but I'm going to guess it's in the $20 vicinity.....I found that I don't apply it quite the same way as I would apply a 'regular' lipstick, but I use more of a patting motion on the lips.  If you take it and apply it from one side of the mouth to the other, I think that you end up with too much product on your lips.  You could also dab a bit on your ring finger and then dab it onto your lips as well, for a more 'stained' look.

On to the eyes!  I am not really a huge fan of Bobbi Brown products (although I do love her Bobbi fragrance), but I have to say that I love the Long-Wear Cream Eyeshadow in that line.  They go on like a dream and last until you remove them with your favorite eyemakeup remover.  I've been known (shhh!) to sleep in them and still see color in the morning.  Mortal sin.  I know.  In any event, they are wonderful, and a little goes a long way, which makes them budget-friendly, right?  Again, I can't recall the exact price, but it's probably in the $20 vicinity as well.  (All right.  It's probably more than that, but that's all I'm admitting to.)  The two shades I really like are both warm-toned, of course:  Antique Gold and Beach Bronze, but there are lots of other shades from which to choose.  Here they are in the pot and swatched.  Antique Gold is on the left and Beach Bronze on the right in both cases.  

I will warn you that Antique Gold could leave a few flecks of gold glitter somewhere other than your eyelids if you should happen to rub your eye during the day, but I still love the product and would not discount it just for that reason.

And since I've been sitting here trying to write this little review, I've had three phone calls and two people trying to get through while I was on the line with the other calls, so I'm not going to make it to my Eileen Fisher Company Store today.  Dang.  But good for the pocketbook!

Until next time, my Beauties, put on some lipstick and go forth with a smile! :)

Origins

No, I am not referring to the origin of our species in the title of this post.  By now you all know that I'm not that cerebral.  ;)  Girls, I'm talkin' bout the cosmetic/treatment brand of Origins.  This brand has been around for quite a while, so most of you are probably familiar with it - Origins has outposts in Macy's, and is also found in freestanding shops of its own.  Today I'm going to entice you into the world of Origins fragrance.  Well, only a few of their fragrances, but, I think, the BEST ones. :)  Only the best for my Dear Readers!  All three of you.

As some of you may recall from my Jo Malone post back in the summer, I am extremely picky when it comes to fragrance.  Most of them hold no appeal for me at all.  Brands/scents that make others swoon will get a 'meh', an 'eh', or an outright 'EEEEEEWWWW' from me.  But the ones I like, I like forever, and Origins Ginger Essence is one of my Forever Fragrances.  This scent has been a part of my collection for over ten years, and is actually one that has had to be replaced.  (I wish I could say that I had to replace it because I used it all up, but the sad truth is that I am such a Fragrance 'Ho that I generally have to replace my most beloved scents because they've gone 'bad' from sitting around for too long!  This is the problem when you apply only a small spritz of fragrance in the morning, and own so many that you can rotate through them and not use the same one every single day.  And YES, I have a lot of bottles sitting around that I don't really like, but hate to part with because they were, well, kind of expensive....In recent years I have vastly curtailed my scent-purchasing impulses and re-routed them into yarn-purchasing impulses, but that's another blog entirely - see www.blingmamaknits.wordpress.com for my ditherings on all things knit).

There she is, Ginger Essence in all her glory.  The website describes the fragrance as having "the spicy fire of ginger and the refreshing zeal of bergamot, lemon, and lime.  Well, there you go!  That explains why I've loved this fragrance for so long.  I am a sucker for citrus.  If you love citrus, too, then you will probably enjoy Ginger Essence.  It's not exactly cheap, at $45.00 for the above-pictured bottle, but it's not horribly costly, either.  To go along with it, there is also the Body Souffle in Ginger Essence for $29.00  HOWEVER, I have to tell you that I don't find the Origins Body Souffle products to be wonderfully moisturizing.  :(  Yesterday, as a matter of fact, I re-discovered my jar of Origins Gloomaway hiding amongst my myriad body products......this is a grapefruit-scented body souffle, and, while you might know that I adore true grapefruit-scented products, I have to give only a half-hearted recommendation of this product.  It really did nothing to smoothe my rough and scratchy fingertips, as I would hoping it would.  And the yummy grapefruit scent only lasted five minutes and then it was gone.....double :(

I know that you can't really tell from my crummy picture above, but this product is not as thick and creamy as other body lotions/souffles/butters I've used in the past. It's more thin and water-based.  Maybe it would be good on your legs if they weren't at the Scaly Stage.  But woe unto you if you think this would help your cracked and hurting heels!  Not gonna happen.  In that case, I would recommend massaging in some Josie Maran Argan Oil, or perhaps some L'Occitaine Shea Butter (from the tin).  Even some Carol's Daughter Moisturizing Body Cream, if you happen to have some lying around........my favorite fragrance so far in that line is the Lavender and Vanilla I picked up about a year ago from a HSN show featuring that product line. I've recently seen a few Carol's Daughter products in my local Ulta, and I've also seen it when wandering through the Macy's cosmetics department.  Of course, HSN will have the best prices and 'kits', so if you are interested in Carol's Daughter, check out the HSN website.

This morning I used some Tarte Maracuja Oil on my hands after I was finished applying my face, and my fingertips are feeling much better today than they did yesterday.  You know that your fingertips need help when the yarn you are using to knit does not glide smoothly through them, but instead catches and snags!  LOL  Oh, well, that's the state of your skin in January in Chicago!  Tell me again why I am still living here and not in somewhere like San Diego????  

Speaking of makeup, today I had fun with Smashbox brow powder but can't recall the exact shade - probably a taupe or light brown; Mally concealer in Light; Laura Geller's Ethereal blush; Bobbi Brown's cream eyeshadow in Beach Bronze;  Bare Escentuals Flawless Def mascara in the Volumizing formula; a touch of Bare Escentuals Well Rested on the spots I wanted to hide on my face; Urban Decay lipliner in Midnight Cowboy; and a dab of Clinique's Chubby Stick in Mega Melon on the old kisser.  (And I do mean old!)  

Oh, wait!  I lied.  My blush was Josie Maran's Argan Color Stick in Petal Pink...or is it Pink Petal...not only the lips are old...the brain's of the same vintage!  But, hey, do you think that the brain's aged better since it's never been exposed to Old Sol?  It might be, but while I'm NOT willing to open up the skull to make the comparison, I AM willing to go on record as saying that the Clinique Chubby Stick lip color/balms are fast becoming some of my favorite lip products!  Hie thee to a Clinique counter at your local Ulta and check them out!!!!  I promise you won't be disappointed. :) 

And that's the dirt on fragrance and color for today.  Until next time, Fair Reader!

Tarte Lips, Anyone?

Now that the rush of the holidays is nearly over, it's time to Talk Turkey about lips again, ladies!  I guess it's pretty obvious that lip cosmetics are my favorites, and in purchasing stocking stuffers for my four beautiful girls this year, I stumbled across a new favorite:  Maracuja Divine Shine Lipgloss from Tarte.   Yep, I confess, I buy things for other people and then want to keep them for myself.......but I didn't do it this time!  All of my girls received a lovely little tube of this gloss in their stockings.....can I help it if they came in a set of five and one of the shades would not have looked good on any of them?

This product comes in pretty packaging, as usual, but it's what's inside that is the real treat.  In the photo above (apologies for the blurred bottom tube - guess my camera has ADHD and has trouble focusing), the shade Curious is on top, and Ethereal is on the bottom.  Both shades are warm-toned, and lovely for me.  Cool skintones might not be quite as enamoured of the shades I own, but I promise, most of the color choices available are geared towards you, rather than those of us who are warm-toned.  I did not want to gross you out with photos of the product with the lid off, as this is one of those brush-topped glosses that don't look particularly pretty once they are used!  LOL  This is not my favorite type of delivery system, but it works just fine, so we will leave it at that.  However, Maureen Kelly (founder of Tarte), if you are reading this (as if!), could you consider going to a clickless, doe-foot applicator?  :)

These glosses have the trademark minty-fresh scent and taste that the Tarte Lipsurgence sticks have, and, once again, if you don't like mint, you can stop reading now.  However, if you love minty lip products the way I love minty lip products, you will not be disappointed with these.  :)  A word of warning: when you first use this product, you have to click the devil out of the little button on the bottom (which is to the left in my photo above).  Truly, I lost count when I reached 100.  So don't give up and think that the product is broken - just keep clicking and you will be rewarded with a lovely, glossy product that, when applied, actually makes older lips look young and fresh again!  Honest!  And this product contains Tarte's famous maracuja oil (derived from the Amazonian Passion Flower), which makes this a treatment product as well.  Okay, so far I have not noticed that my lips are suddenly the lips of a twentysomething, but, hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

As those of you who've read my previous posts might recall, I have a horrible problem with lip products traveling where they are unauthorized to travel on my face, namely: into the canyons above and below my lips, with which the good Lord has seen fit to gift me in my older age.  Therefore, many glosses really do not work well for me.  However, this particular product is of thicker consistency than others, and stays put very well, especially when used in conjunction with my handy-dandy Urban Decay lipliner pencil.  Thank you, Maureen Kelly!!!!  It's exciting to be able to use a gloss on older lips, because there is just something about gloss that creates a younger look.  Not TOO young, but just-right-young. :)

So if you are in the market for a new lipgloss (and who is NOT in the market for a new lipgloss, ladies?), give the Tarte Maracuja Divine Shine Lipgloss a try.  (But make sure you go to the QVC website and order it in a set, or see if Sephora still has any of the holiday packaging available, because purchased individually, they are a bit on the expensive side at $24.00........)

Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hour Lipstick!

It's been a while, girls, but what can I say?  Life's a bitch sometimes, and beauty has to (horrors) take a back seat.....today I'm back with a review of Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hour lipstick.  I was recently watching a wonderful Lisa Eldridge You Tube video, and she recommended this brand, so I thought if it's good enough for Lisa Eldridge, it's certainly good enough for ME. :)  And it is!  Unfortunately, my camera seems to be set to 'blurry' today, but here are a few shots of the product anyway. Just squint, or take off the reading glasses and pretend that's the problem.  :)

So here is the lovely tube itself - I like the fact that you can actually SEE the color, since, being Maybelline, there are no testers available at WalMart (where I found mine at a great price which I cannot remember now, but, trust me, it was in the seven/eight dollar range, which is not bad for a lipstick these days), or Walgreens, or any of the other spots you will find Maybelline products.  Guess there is a trade-off for getting a bargain.  (Cheaper price = no testers to make sure the color looks good on you!)  I'm not actually sure it's worth it, though, since you are more likely to come home with a product which is not the right color for your skintone, but I guess that's another issue altogether, isn't it?  (And, no, it's not nice to rip the little plastic protectors off the product when no one's looking to be able to slide the cap off and see the actual product, ladies! But I might have done it once.  Or twice.  When no one was looking.  Or not.)

And here is the product with the cap removed:

Dang, you are going to have to REEEAAALLY ignore the blurries on that shot - so sorry.  As you might not be able to see from the picture, the tip of the product is slanted, which I personally like, as that is the shape my lipstick normally takes......(have any of you ever taken that quiz that tells you all about your personality by what shape your application method makes your lipstick?  It's kind of silly, but if you ever have a spare moment, it's entertaining.  I'll trust you all to have the computer skills to find it yourself.)  The lipstick itself has a raspberry/candy type of scent which does translate into a bit of the same flavor on your lips, but it's not overpowering.  If you hate raspberries, though, just skip this product, as you will NOT like the scent/taste.  There is also a little bit of glitter in this lipstick, or perhaps it was just in the color I chose, #055 "Keep Me Coral".  (One thing I hate about the product is that the name is written in extremely small letters on the bottom, reminding me of my Old Broad status....in fact, even with my magnifying glass, I first thought that I was wearing the MUCH more fun "Kiss Me Coral"......Why, oh why can't these companies make the names of these products larger so that when we want to recommend the color to a friend we are not forced to go looking for magnifying glasses????  Don't they know they are losing sales because of this?)  Getting back to my glitter comment, though, don't let that stop you from trying one of these lipsticks...it's very subtle, I promise.  Think of it as shimmer on steriods, and you'll be fine.

Finally, a SWATCH of this lipstick, taken indoors with no flash, as with the flash totally wiped out the picture - guess the flash doesn't work all that well when it's two inches from the object?  I need to consult with my photographer daughter on that one......

One negative about this product is that it doesn't appear to come in all that many shades (or maybe I'm just exceptionally greedy and need more than only one or two shades of a product that I think are right for me?), and most of them are more on the bright side. Of course, I personally feel that most of us Older Beauties are flattered by a brighter color on the lips (NOT a slash of purple-red, ladies, just a brighter pop, please!)  I know that some of you would be frightened by the thought of a brighter shade on your lips, but, honestly, I don't think I've ever seen anything less attractive than a brownish/nude/nothing shade of lipstick on ANYONE's mouth.  I don't care how young you are, some of the lipstick shades out there should NEVER be worn.  They are just not pretty.  Or flattering.  Or worth the price you paid for them.  Phooey!

On to the 'stay' aspect of this lipstick.......I'm not going to flat out call the Maybelline people liars, but I WILL say that on ME, this lipstick is not wearing for 14 hours.  (Heck, when am I even wearing makeup for fourteen hours?  You?)  Maybe 14 MINUS 10.  You do the math.  I tried this lipstick because Lisa Eldridge said that it was not as drying as most long-wear lipsticks, and I do agree with her on that, although the texture is a tad on the dry side.  However, that is a PLUS for us Older Broads.....uhm....Beauties, because guess what, girls?  That means it's not gonna bleed into the lines around our Lovely Kissers.  Yippee!!!!  For that alone, I recommend this product.  It's getting pretty hard these days for me to find a lipstick or gloss that is not going to make a beeline for the hills, so to speak, and that is sad, because a lot of pretty colors are off-limits to me due to Crevasse Lips.  And I am a sucker for color.  If you find the formula a bit dryer than you like, add a dab of gloss to the center of your bottom lip.  It will give a totally different look/feel to the product.

So get out there and see if one of these Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hour Lipstick colors could be right for you!  You might be pleasantly surprised.  Oh, and just FYI, the Lisa Eldridge video I was watching was her suggestions for a red lip for a variety of skintones.  I did not purchase the shade she recommended, as my Feeble Old Brain could not RECALL what shade she had specified in her video. Maybe next time. :)

Sephora Brand - Great Products, Even Better Prices

I'm back today with a quick little blurb highlighting one of the products you can find at your local Sephora - their own brand of color cosmetics.  Yesterday I was out and about and, of course, was drawn into the Sephora in my local JC Penney.  While this shop does not have nearly the selection of a stand-alone Sephora, it's good for a quick makeup fix, and does have the benefit of carrying the Sephora brand products - brushes, eyeshadows, lipsticks, and, thank heavens, LIP LINER!  

As some of you may know, I have been heartbroken since the Aveda line stopped making lipliner, as I had been using their brand for years and years, and found nothing to compare with the color, minty (yep, there's that minty taste again!) flavor, and longevity on the lips of this product.  Some of the brands I'd tried include Bare Minerals (and, alas, THEY, too have stopped featuring lip liners in their line); Lancome (very expensive and no good color selection for me); Makeup Forever (too-bright colors); Hourglass (bleeds!!!!!!); Cargo (sorry, that reverse lipliner doesn't work); MAC (might be good if I could find the right shade); and Clinique (not a bad formula, but that line doesn't have the perfect color for me yet).

Here is a small sampling of my lipliners.  As you can see, the Sephora purchases are in the front.  The texture is wonderful, and the two colors I purchased (for a mere five dollar bill) are good for the colors of lipstick I wear on a daily basis.  However, look at the SIZE of these babies!  What's up with that?  These are brand-new, and are basically half the size of any other lipliner I've ever purchased.  But then again, they're half the price, too, so I guess when you need a new one, just get two at once and you'll be good to go!

There was a very decent color selection - I did not actually count them, but from memory, I'd say that you could choose from about ten or twelve shades.  The colors range from red to pink to brown, so I'm sure that there is a shade that would be just grand for any lipcolor you are wanting to match.  Minus the mintiness.  (A blessing for some, others not so much.)

Next time, I'll tell you about the neat Sephora brand eyeliner I brought home. :)

Josie Maran's Argan Oil Products!

I don't know how many of you have heard of Josie Maran, as she's perhaps not exactly a household name, but she is a lovely young thirty-something model and mother of two little girls who started her own line of Argan Oil products roughly a year and a half ago.  I first became aware of her products (where else?) on QVC about a year ago.  These products are pretty decent, and, while they will NOT suddenly make your fifty/sixty/or seventy+-something face transform into the sweet young thing you were in your twenties (yes, dearie, of course we were ALL once sweet young things), they WILL give you some bang for your buck, and even bring a little smile to your face when you use them.  Maybe.  If color makes you smile the way it makes me smile. :)

A 1.7 oz. size of Argan Oil was Josie's first product in the line, and I confess that my lovely bottle of the stuff is nearly ALL GONE!!!  This, in itself, is pretty impressive, because Makeup Ho that I am, I RARELY finish a product.  (The exceptions being mascara, lipsticks, and the occasional lipgloss.  And my bottle of Lauren, the Ralph Lauren classic fragrance that is my all time favorite scent.  Evah.  Yum.)  Here is the bottle of Argan Oil:

I like to use it on the Crow's Feet (on me they might be more like Buzzard's Feet) at the corners of the eyes, the lovely Crypt-Keeper lines above my less-than-lush lips, my elbows, the tops of my hands, and on my cuticles.  It's very light and absorbs pretty quickly.  If you are very diligent and use it daily (as I do not, because I just am not that good about any beauty routine except for applying makeup....LOL), it really does have a softening effect on the lines and wrinkles.  I believe I have been using my bottle for about a year now, and there's probably half an inch left in the bottom of the container.  It hasn't gone rancid yet, which is quite decent, as I've had other products that don't last nearly as long.  It's not terribly inexpensive, as I believe this bottle was in the vicinity of $48.00, but if you shop on the Q, you can probably get it in combination with another product, such as the Argan Color Stick I am going to talk about next, which makes it a much more palatable price. :)  Josie Maran Argan Oil is 100% Moroccan  argan oil, with no fillers or additives.

Which brings me to the other Josie Maran product that I really like, the Argan Color Stick.  This is a product that reminds me of the Nars Multiple, but in my book, this product beats the Multiple hands down, as the Multiple costs quite a bit more at $39.00 (The Argan Color Stick is a mere $22.00), and does not last nearly as long on the lips as the Argan Color Stick does.  Plus, Josie's product has a fab minty feel on the lips, and is infused with the softening properties of - you guessed it - ARGAN OIL!  :)

My Argan Color Stick is the Petal Pink shade, and it's a beautiful, warm pink, with a touch of shimmer.  I believe that there are several other different shade choices available.  Check them out at www.josiemarancosmetics.com.  You can also stop by your local Sephora (OMG, don't tell me you don't HAVE a local Sephora - I would die a thousand deaths if I couldn't pop by that Cosmetics Mecca weekly to drool over the latest goodies on display, but that's just me) to check out the beautiful Josie Maran offerings there....

You can use this product on your cheeks and lips, and it gives a lovely sheen of color on the cheeks - dewey, ladies - just what we are looking for to make our old, crepey cheeks appear YOUNGER, right?  Just dot a little of the product on the apples of your cheeks and blend outward and upward.  And when you're done with your cheeks, apply some to your lips.  I wore it today, and the lipcolor lasted a good three to four hours for me, and it didn't sink into the vertical lines now permanently making their home above and below my mouth!  For that alone, it deserves applause.  And a big KISS! 

I highly recommend these products.  Josie's "Magic Marker Lip and Cheek Stain", not so much.  I tried it.  And then I ran screaming out of the bathroom.  That product was not even REMOTELY wearable for this old broad, and, believe me I bought SEVERAL in the hope that one of the shades would work.  Total waste of my cash.

However, I recently sampled another of Josie's products at - you guessed it - Sephora - and now I have something that I can put on my Wish List for Christmas.  It's the Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter in Vanilla & Apricot, although there is a Citrus version as well that I have not gotten to sniff personally.  This product make my skin feel nothing short of divine, and the scent was absolutely delicious.  The Argan Balm is also really nice, and I loved the way that made my skin feel as well.

So, what are you waiting for, girls?  Get yourselves over to Sephora, or shop online on the Q or Josie's own website, and get one of these little beauties home.  You'll thank me, I just know it!  

Till next time, my Beauties.