Senna Cosmetics Summer 2013 Collection Pictures & Swatches – Part 3

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The third and final installment of my picture/swatch posts of Senna Cosmetics’ Summer 2013 collection – face stuffs! The face component of the collection includes 3 products: 2 mineral bronzer/highlighter duos called Brilliant Bronze, and the Powder Point brush #33.

Can we talk about how much I love the Senna Powder Point brush? Oh, yeah of course we can — it’s my blog! :) I LOVE THIS BRUSH. It’s so soft and fluffy, while the beveled shape still allows for precise application. I also adore the aqua handles on Senna brushes. The Powder Point brush retails for $38, and for such a high quality brush it is well worth it. For those wondering how it might compare to the MAC 138, it’s the same sort of idea at a significant savings (the MAC version retails for a steep $53). I don’t know much more than that about a comparison because I don’t own the 138. Like the MAC 138, the Senna Powder Point brush is made from natural fibers. I do have the Sigma F25 (formerly SS138, guess why…) which is cheaper than Senna’s brush but not quite as soft and it sheds a little bit, like all of my Sigma face brushes do. *sigh*

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AND NOW TO THE BRONZERS!

Yes these are baked mineral bronzer/highlighters, but unlike other brands’ similar products they actually contain skin-healthy pearl powder. Pearl powder contains amino acids and proteins to hydrate and nourish your skin. We cover our face in the stuff, why shouldn’t makeup pull double duty? Plus, I love to see it when a brand takes so much care with its ingredients. ;) These retail for $42.

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Senna Brilliant Bronze Baked Mineral Bronzer/Highlighter in Dawn is described as light bronze with a seashell pink highlighter. The bronzer side has a quite rosy tone to it. You could totally wear this as blush for that warm pinky sun-kissed look. The highlighter is very light baby pink. Both shades have shimmer.

sennadawnheavySenna Brilliant Bronze Baked Bronzer/Highlighter in Dawn – heavily swatched on fair skin, direct sunlight.

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Dawn, blended out. The highlighter and bronzer are both visible when the light hits them, but are definitely subtle. You can layer them however for a more intense look – this is how I personally would wear it since I’m so fair. :)

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Senna Brilliant Bronze Baked Mineral Bronzer/Highlighter in Sunset is described as deep bronze with a golden highlighter. Don’t be intimidated by how dark the bronzer side is; Like its companion Dawn, Sunset is a buildable, flattering shade. This bronzer/highlighter would complement a variety of skintones. Both sides do have shimmer

sennasunsetheavySenna Sunset swatched heavily.

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Blended out as if I were going to wear it.

February Favorites

Hello hello everyone! It’s MARCH, so that means it’s time to talk about FEBRUARY. Err, in other words, my favorites from February. Woot!

Favorite Hair Products


Um realistically my favorite hair product in February was my beloved Stephanie, aka Awesome Colorist, but since calling her a product is kind of rude, I’ll go with the kind that are in bottles!

Ahh the precious. I have talked about the Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Overnight Hair Rescue (long enough name for ya?) before, but it is basically like an intensive night cream for your hair. You put it in at night and then wash it out in the morning. I love it! My hair has been dry (because really I’m overdue for a trim) and this doesn’t make it go away completely (needing a trim is cured by, -gasp- getting a trim) but it really helps. Now, no lies this stuff is expensive, so it’s definitely a splurge item. ($35 at Sephora or Ulta)
Another favorite of mine recently has been the Wen Cleansing Conditioner in Winter Vanilla Mint. This scent was limited edition around holiday, so I’m sorry for talking about it now, but I just now have really been using it the past month, give or take. I already used up a bottle of the Sweet Almond Mint last fall, and reviewed it for Stylebell. I love Wen Cleansing Conditioners! They don’t weigh my fine hair down and they really make it feel bouncy and healthy. The Winter Vanilla Mint smells like candies, and if I had to point out any flaws it’s just that it makes me hungry. (Available at QVC – $29)

Favorite Skin Products

I haven’t really been doing a whole lot differently with my skin. Still using either Caudalie’s foaming cleanser or my Neaclear. I’m also still using The Body Shop’s Vitamin E moisturizers (love love love love love!). But as I’m wearing more makeup lately, I’m adding a few things that help makeup “play nice” with my skin.

I’m still learning how to deal with my dry skin. For years I had oily skin, and I’ve really only had dry skin for the past year or so. It’s a whole new experience! I took for granted that I never had the problem of my skin looking too matte. Now, even on days where I’m not wearing any makeup, I like to go over my whole face with MAC Strobe Liquid. It’s just a thin, slightly hydrating lotion that has a very pretty pearly pink luminescent quality. It gives my face that natural glow that has since left me along with my overactive oil producing skin, lol. I’ve also been using my MAC Fix+ more, as it takes down the powderiness of face powders. (Strobe Liquid and Fix+ are available from MAC for $30 and $20 respectively.)


Favorite Color Products

Wee! The fun part! Like I said, I’ve been wearing more makeup lately. I made you a collage!
These are all the things I’ve been feeling much love for over the past month. I’ve been wearing very little in the way of foundation or concealer, but I do sometimes wear a little MAC Mineralized SkinFinish Natural just to even out my complexion. Sometimes you just wake up looking a little blotchy, yanno? Yeah.  And NARS Laguna is a staple product that I’m obsessed with because it adds warmth/glow without looking orange or dirty. (MSFN is $29 at MAC; NARS Laguna is $34 at Sephora)
The drugstore lip products are killing it right now, and I’ve been wearing my Rimmel Stay Glossy Lipglosses and Revlon Lip Butters pretty much exclusively day to day. Revlon Lip Butters are another one of those products that have been getting a ton of hype lately, and they’re TOTALLY worth it. I have three (Creamsicle, Candy Apple, and Sweet Tart) and I LOVE THEM. I was just saying on Twitter that I want more. :) (Price varies on these from drugstore to drugstore.)
I’ve been on a bit of a NARS Eye Shadow kick, using the heck out of my Doceurs de Paris palette and my Best of NARS palette, particularly a couple shades from the Kalahari and All About Eve duos. But as usual, I’m using drugstore mascara. Rimmel ScandalEyes is my lash of choice lately. It’s really dramatic. It’s not my absolute favorite mascara, but I like it. I will be reviewing it more in-depth soon. If you liked MaxFactor 2000 Calorie mascara but are living in the states and can’t get it anymore, try Rimmel ScandalEyes. I think you’d like it. For my brows, I still love my Billion Dollar Brows brow powder (holy grail!) but I have been really liking the new Senna Cosmetics Sketch-a-Brow pencil too. The effect is very natural-looking and it’s so simple to use. (NARS eye shadows vary in price at NARS; Rimmel ScandalEyes will vary depending on the drugstore, and Sketch-a-Brow is $18 from Senna Cosmetics)
I just realized I completely forgot another product when I was making my collage!
The Magic Hair Pad is one of those genius inventions that makes you think “why didn’t I think of that?!”. The concept is super simple– it’s a square of velcro. Really. That’s all it is. But you press it into your hair to hold it out of place while doing makeup, washing your face, doing a facial mask, etc. GENIUS. The picture shows black, but they come in pink too. I like them so much sometimes I will sport one just to hold my bangs out of place while I’m hanging out around the house. Not the most fashionable statement, but the rest of my outfit usually consists of flannel pajama bottoms and a tank top when I’m doing this, so I have thrown fashion to the wind at that point. ;) But pretty much any girl with hair needs to own these. I think that’s most of you. (Available in a pack of 2 for $7 at MagicHairPad.com)









Samples of some products mentioned here were sent by PR for consideration.
All opinions are my own, and not sponsored by any brand/company.
No compensation was received for including these products as favorites.
Disclaimers are fun to type because they are super tiny and stuff. xoxo <3

Drive-By Post

Ha, sorry guys but this post is short and sweet. Just a few words on some products I’m trying out and how I’m liking them so far. More detailed reviews will be coming later. :)

There are some new favorites taking up residence in my shower these days. The most prominent of which is Alba Botanica Haircare. I’ve been trying out their new rainforest acai shampoo and conditioner and I realllllly like it. It’s one of the best natural options I’ve tried so far!

After getting the news of my job loss and feeling really crappy, Mr. Menagerie suggested I take a hot bath with a yummy bath bomb. I selected Moon’s Harvest Oatmeal, Milk, Honey Bath Bomb. This one smelled amazing and was super moisturizing, but kind of left a brown ring in the tub! Not cute. Oh well, it was pretty worth having to clean the tub a little bit. I felt thoroughly relaxed and rejuvenated after my bath. Not to mention my skin was supersoft.

Another newcomer to the Shower de Menagerie is Yardley Soap. I’m obsessed with anything almond scented, so I’ve been trying the oatmeal & almond scented soap. It smells heavenly and I just can’t stop sniffing it when I’m in the shower. There’s also a honeysuckle citrus scent that smells RIDICULOUS (and that’s a good thing by the way) that I look forward to using as well.

Makeup-wise lately I haven’t been trying much in the way of new things because I either haven’t been wearing makeup (I usually don’t wear any if I’m not leaving the house) or I’ve been reaching for tried & true things. The only occasions I’ve done a full face for lately were job interviews, and as I will also mention in an upcoming post, job interviews are no time to experiment! But there is one new product I’ve been using lately that I really like, and that’s NYX Bronzer in Daydream of Kauai. It’s a really great shade for pale girls. It kind of reminds me of my favorite bronzer TooFaced Chocolate Soleil. I haven’t swatched them together yet, but this looks like it could be a very decent cheaper alternative. Of course it doesn’t have the intoxicating chocolate scent, but I think I can let that slide. Afterall, I’ve been using the abundance of free time I have right now to do things like bake brownies.

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer

I love being a pale girl. I have options. If I want an Elizabethan-era pale look, I’ve got it w/ no effort. Hell, if I want to look like a corpse it doesn’t even take THAT much effort…you’d be shocked how easily I pulled this look outta my face…see my neck/chest? No makeup on that. I’m really pale. Convincing, no?
p.s. wtf was I thinking with my brows? those look awful. glad this was over a year ago…
Anyway! I can also become a bronzed sun bunny whenever I want, minus the cancer. Except that a lot of bronzers look really freaking orange on me. So I was kinda dubious about this bronzer from TooFaced. It just looks so dark. But a.) it has cocoa powder in it so it smells like CHOCOLATE and b.) I heard from several people that it will NOT be orange.
Hmm, okay I’ll bite. Well what do you know? It’s not orange. No, in fact it’s a nice warm chocolatey tone that doesn’t look orange at all. You all know what a big fan I am of being orange ;) I just use a very light hand, because this bronzer is very pigmented, and I don’t need a whole lot. And the smell…oh it’s so yummy. But the cocoa powder isn’t just added to make it smell nice. Cocoa powder actually has soothing properties for your skin and helps neutralize redness!
Let me just clarify one thing here: it smells yummy. You are not supposed to eat it. Someone mentioned in a review on Sephora that it tastes great. Actually more than one person has mentioned a taste. Yeah. WTF? Please do not eat the bronzer.

Laura Geller Baby Cakes Palette

Laura Geller isn’t a brand I have much previous experience with. I tried her Spackle primer once (what a name, right? Love it…) and wasn’t too thrilled with it– I just felt lukewarm. But the Laura Geller line consists of a lot of slow-baked products, which I love. I have a ton of the baked MAC items (their ‘Mineralized’ line) Baked cosmetics are made starting with a liquid, which is then poured onto a terracotta pan and slow baked.

The Baby Cakes palette is kind of like an intro to Laura Geller baked products. It’s a really cute idea! It includes her Balance ‘n Brighten, Ethereal Rose Baked Powder, and Bronze ‘n Brighten in tiny little try me sized cakes. There is also a retractable brush w/ a pink tube. There are two colors available for the palette– the regular version, and the one with a lighter Balance ‘n Brighten for those with fair skintones. It retails for $36 on QVC but is at a reduced “Try Me” price right now.

Now, how do I like the palette? I must say I like it more than I thought I would. First I’ll start with the (small) negatives. The brush included is teensy. It works just fine, but powdering your whole face with Balance ‘n Brighten takes forever since the brush head is so small. It’s about the size of a mini mascara tube when the cap is on the brush. I used a travel powder brush from MAC and the brush head was perfectly sized for these small cakes. The only other negative I have is a nit-picky thing: the case inside is black as you can see in the picture. That means powdery dust will show up every time you use it. Not a big deal, just be aware if you’re a neatness freak you’ll be wiping it down constantly. :P

The positives, however, completely outweigh those negatives. The products themselves are great! Balance ‘n Brighten is designed to correct ruddiness as well as brighten sallowness, and I must say it really does work. It feels weightless on, too, even if you layer on a ton of it. It doesn’t look like I’m wearing powder. It just looks like my skin got better. I swear my pores are a bit diminished too! The Ethereal Rose powder is meant to be kind of an all-over powder (like a MAC Beauty Powder), but since I’m pretty fair it works as a nice blush. It has shimmer but it’s not disco ball-ish at all. The color on me looks kind of like a pinker version of MAC Stereo Rose Mineralized Skin Finish! The third cake, Bronze ‘n Brighten, I had skeptical feelings about. I have never really found a bronzer that didn’t look ridiculous on me, except for just using a gold blush as a bronzer. Well, I’ve finally found a bronzer I like! Bronze ‘n Brighten features swirls of pale pink, brighter pink, tan, and brown. The effect on the skin is the most beautiful rosy bronze glow.

The overall effect when all three cakes are used is just one of a soft, pretty face without looking too ‘done’. If I’m in a rush in the morning I can use it and then slap on some mascara, fill in my brows, and be out the door. I keep a lipstick in my purse at all times so I could apply that later. ;)

I like the fact that these little cakes are small, because I will possibly actually finish them, haha. Balance ‘n Brighten is definitely a product I would want to re-purchase when I finish this, as is Bronze ‘n Brighten. Ethereal Rose is really pretty, but I think if I had to I could live without it as the color is similar to those I have in my MAC MSF collection. It is really pretty though and nice to have– and it goes really well with the other 2 products in the palette.