My Hourglass Cosmetics Makeover

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending an Hourglass Cosmetics event at Sephora South Coast Plaza. I got to meet the absolutely lovely founder of Hourglass, Carisa Janes, and get my makeup done by one of the Hourglass MUAs. It was cold, windy, and rainy in SoCal yesterday, but well worth “braving” the weather! I love the look that MUA Laura came up with for me, and wanted to share the product breakdown with you!

Complexion: First, Laura primed my skin with their No. 28 Primer Serum. I have very dry skin, and the No. 28 Primer Serum contains 14 essential oils, 10 plant oils, and 4 vitamins all meant to help hydrate your skin as it primes it for makeup. As a bonus, it smells magnificent! After massaging in the primer and letting it sort of ‘marinate’ for a minute, she applied Illusion Hyaluronic Skin Tint. Even though this product is a tinted moisturizer, it provides medium to full coverage so only needed to be used sparingly. Laura also used a tiny bit of Hidden Corrective Concealer after the eye look was done since some eye shadow fallout had to be cleaned up and some coverage was removed in that process. She also used a fluffy shadow brush and the Ambient Lighting Powder in Incandescent Light (exclusive to the Ambient Lighting Palette) around my eyes to highlight the area.

Cheeks: Hourglass just launched a new shade of their Ambient Lighting Blush called Incandescent Electra, and I’m in love. It’s the perfect coral for my skin tone. Laura used that along with a hint of Ambient Lighting Powder in Radiant Light, which is a bronze shade (but sheerer than their new Ambient Lighting Bronzer).

Eyes: For my eyes, Laura used colors from the Modernist Eye Palette in Color Field, which is the one with the khaki green shade in it. She used the brown-taupe shade wet as an overall base color on my lids, and lined my eyes with the green shade (also used wet). She also used the highlight shade to blend out the brown. I really like the eyeliner she used, which is a mechanical Gel Eyeliner. She used it to tightline as well as line my water line, and the color is so perfectly black. I’m also wearing Film Noir mascara, which I’ve already tried and loved previously. Still love it!

Lips: Laura first applied their No. 28 Lip Treatment Oil to help bring some moisture into my dry lips. It has a pleasant botanical fragrance and felt really nice. After it had a chance to sink in for several minutes, she dabbed off any excess and applied the color. The first product she used was Panoramic Long Wear Lip Liner in Muse, a really pretty coral. These liners have a convenient blending brush on the end. After the liner she applied a light layer of the matching Muse Femme Rouge Velvet Creme Lipstick, and Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss in Lush. The gloss is a lighter, slightly more pink version of the lipstick and liner.

Brows: I had done my eyebrows previously to arriving, because I’m totally vain and really hate leaving the house without any brows on. Rather than re-do them, Laura left them as they were. I used Billion Dollar Brows brow powder in Taupe and Anastasia Beverly Hills clear brow gel.

All of the Hourglass products mentioned are available for purchase at Sephora. I’m relatively new to the Hourglass world, and definitely left with some new things to add to my wishlist! The item at the top of my wishlist is definitely the Incandescent Electra blush. I just love a good glowy cheek!

Have you tried any Hourglass products?

2014 Makeup Show LA Shopping List

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My favorite of the beauty trade shows, The Makeup Show, has its LA stop this coming weekend. A week from today I will be immersed in my favorite beauty brands, along with some of my favorite people! As much as I gush about the fantastic educational experiences and getting to hang with my fellow beauty blogging babes, let’s get real– the shopping is amazing at these events! Some brands are even debuting brand new products at TMSLA. So what’s on my shopping list? Keep reading.

The very first thing I will do is probably make a beeline for the NARS booth. I pretty much always have a NARS wishlist as long as my arm, and right now is no exception. Any time I can get my paws on some NARS at a discount, and all bets are off. I can’t wait to swatch the new Matte Multiples and to nab the new Satin Lip Pencil in Timanfaya (seen below in use back stage during NYFW at Creatures of the Wind SS’14). I love the Satin Lip Pencils and I highly recommend them if you’re looking for suggestions for your own shopping list.

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After waiting in what is sure to be a crazy line at NARS (worth it!) I will head over to booth 909, Billion Dollar Brows. You guys know what a brow freak I am. A lot of the stuff I will be picking up at TMSLA this year is brow-related. To me, eyebrows are like foundation, except where I would leave the house w/o my foundation, I wouldn’t like to leave without my EYEBROWS.  Anyway…

I am obsessed with my BDB brow brush. I’ve used it *exclusively* for my brows for the last 4 years. I just want to pick up another one. If there’s some sort of show special I’ll grab another brow powder too. I’ve had my BDB brow powder for as long as I’ve had the brush, and I’ve made a pretty significant dent in it. I’m sure it could go another few years, but it’s always good to grab a backup if it’s a good deal, no?

bdbduophoto from Billion Dollar Brows

After BDB I will mosy on over to the booth #1000, Breakups to MakeupAngelique’s Etsy shop has the cutest tees and accessories with makeup-obsessed themed phrases on them. I’m particularly fond of “I Would Cry But My Mascara Is Designer”. How friggin’ cute, right?

mascaradesignerphoto from Breakups to Makeup on Etsy

Then I can’t wait to go stare at the gorgeous vintage-inspired makeup at Besame Cosmetics. Everything is made in small batches here in LA. The packaging and attention to detail of this line makes every piece a work of art! I have never owned anything from their line, but maybe it’s time? ;)

Next I’m off to do more brow-related shopping! I want to go check out the new Dipbrow pomade by Anastasia. I haven’t decided if I will actually buy this, but it looks pretty cool and I want to check it out. However, I’m very sure I want another Sketch-a-Brow pencil from Senna Cosmetics! I used mine up completely, and I miss it. GIMME.

Also on my list to check out…the tinted moisturizer from OCC. I want something with a little coverage that looks skin-like, and is less heavy than my BB cream. I don’t really need much, just evening out the redness on my cheeks and around my nose.

The Makeup Show is also the best time to stock up on staples like makeup wipes, sponges, brush cleaner, etc. I am on the hunt for a large sifter jar to decant some of my Ben Nye Neutral Set powder into. It comes in a huge bottle and it’s kinda hard to use it by pouring a little onto the teensy cap.

A post about TMSLA shopping would be incomplete without mentioning brushes. If you want brushes, THEY GOT BRUSHES. You can pick up brushes from all of the best lines in the business: Bdellium Tools (the b is freaking silent, people), Crown Brush, London Brush Company, esum (find them at the Muse Beauty booth – AMAZING), oh and a little line by the name of Hakuhodo. Also, a special treat – Beautylish will be there along with the Wayne Goss brush collection! Some of those brushes look really cool from what I’ve seen on Youtube, so I look forward to getting to play with them in person.

Speaking of brushes, Stila will be at TMSLA and several of their brushes are longtime favorites of mine. The #5 all over shadow brush, the #7 precision crease brush, and the #9 all over blend brush are all fantastic brushes. I have like 4 of the #7 brush, that’s how much I like it. You really can’t ever have too many brushes. ;)

As far as other things at the show, I will see what strikes my fancy. You never know who is going to have some super cool new thing, or what’s going to be on a ridiculously awesome show special price. Plus, and this happens to me all the time, you’ll see a product you didn’t think you wanted and a makeup artist will show you a different way to use it that CHANGES EVERYTHING. That’s the best part about shopping at these events. Often, you’ll get to talk to the people that developed the product and get to hear their thought process, and gain such amazingly helpful insight into the products themselves.

The Makeup Show LA (#TMSLA) is March 1st & 2nd in downtown LA. Tickets are still available ($48 for 1 day, $68 for both) with various discounts available for students etc. You do have to be a professional (or studying to become one) to get tickets. More info about all of that is here.

See you at The Makeup Show!

By the way… if you are as crazy about eyebrows as I am, follow my Pinterest board “Hey, Nice Brows” for lots more eyebrow love.

The Benefits of Benefit Cosmetics

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About a month ago (yeah, this post is overdue…what else is new…) I attended a fun Benefit event at Macy’s in Westminster. I got my makeup done by supersweet MUA Katie, and she and I talked about the latest and greatest (and some cult favs) from Benefit! Inspired, here is my list of favorites from Benefit. If you’re new to the brand, or just want to try some new things, check these out! [Read more…]