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?

10 Lipstick Formulas You Should Try

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I’ve been really into trying different lipstick formulas lately and I wanted to share with you some of my favorite formulas! If you haven’t tried these yet, you should!

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Top Nude Lipstick Picks

Wearing MAC Blankety a few years ago when it was still new to me.
Fact: I love nude lipstick. My very first one was MAC Blankety and I have been hooked ever since. Since then I have collected quite a few. Here are my top picks for nude lipsticks! You’ll notice a lot of MAC, but those aren’t the only ones I love! MAC is just what I have a lot of. If you know of any dupes for these from other brands, feel free to post them in the comments!
  • MAC Blankety (Amplified Creme) (available at MAC)
  • MAC Modesty (Cremesheen)
  • MAC Patisserie (Lustre)
  • MAC Creme d’Nude (Cremesheen)
  • MAC Creme in Your Coffee (Cremesheen)
  • MAC Myth (Satin)
  • LORAC Breakthrough Performance Lipstick SPF 15 in Nude Scene (available at Sephora)
  • ELF Mineral Lipstick in Natural Nymph (available at ELF)
  • Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Cream Lipstick in Fable (available at Apothica)
  • Laura Mercier Stick Gloss in Brown Sugar (available at Sephora)
  • Polaris Cosmetics Lipstick in Tad (available at Polaris Cosmetics)
  • NYX Round Lipstick in Circe (available at Nonpareil Boutique)
  • NYX Round Lipstick in Rea
  • Jouer Cosmetics Lipstick in Meredith (available at Jouer Cosmetics)
Wearing MAC Modesty Cremesheen for a business meeting.
If you’re looking for drugstore colors, I was recommended both Revlon ColorBurst in Soft Nude (for a peachier nude) or L’Oreal Color Riche in Fairest Nude (more pinky beige nude). My favorite drugstore nude used to be a CoverGirl TruShine, but those jerks discontinued the line! I haven’t had a chance to try the new CG Nature Luxe lipsticks, but I do hear lots of good things about them.
How about you? What are your favorite nude lipsticks? Or if nude isn’t your cup of tea, what do you like to wear?
Jouer Cosmetics lipstick in Meredith

Hourglass Cosmetics Film Noir Mascara Review

I’ve always thought that mascara is one of the few things even beauty mavens really don’t need to splurge on. There are loads of great mascaras available in the drugstore. Now, there still are a lot of great mascaras in the drugstore, but uh… sorry, this really expensive mascara is amazing. And, dare I say, perhaps worth the exorbitant $28 price tag? 

Oddly enough, I never set out to try this mascara. I placed an order some months ago at Apothica. I actually bought Hourglass’ other mascara, Superficial Lash, and a lipstick. I received a little sample tube of Film Noir mascara with my order, and since I had other mascaras open at the time I decided to try the little sample before opening another full sized mascara.

And thus, my love affair with Film Noir Full Spectrum mascara began.

From the moment I first applied this mascara, it has been love and bliss. Hourglass says this mascara is designed to give length, volume, jet black color and sheen, lift, and separation. That’s a mighty list of claims for one mascara. But oh, let me tell you. It delivers! I have what I would say are average lashes. Not super long, but not short and stubby either. I want DRAMA. I want big huge black fluttery lashes. I never understood those adjustable mascaras where you can choose ‘day’ or ‘night’. I want drama lashes. All the time. I definitely get that with this mascara! True to the name of the brand, Hourglass Film Noir mascara has an hourglass shaped brush, which is best illustrated with this photo from Sephora:

Interestingly enough, at least one person used “awesomeness” as one of the attributes of this mascara in a review on Sephora’s site. I completely agree!

I took these photos purposefully without any eyeliner because I wanted you to see truly how my lashes look just with the help of this mascara. No mascara was applied to the bottom lashes in this case. I did comb my lashes afterward, but that was more because my lashes tend to criss cross each other and point all weird directions on their own. No curler or primers were used. In fact, when I tried this with Urban Decay’s Lash Primer Potion, the result was an epic clumpy fail. This mascara does not play well with others– a bit of a diva. Like a film actress!

While I did not apply any mascara to my bottom lashes in this instance, I do often apply the Film Noir mascara to my bottom lashes. It doesn’t smudge. In fact, this mascara never smudges. Ever. Or flakes. It’s not waterproof, but I wore it to the gym yesterday and it didn’t smudge or flake. This is due to the acacia senegal gum, which acts as an adhesive. This mascara also contains panthenol, (provitamin B5) and vegetable oil to give the lashes shine, and act as a conditioner. I can tell that my lashes are getting a benefit from it; I lose fewer lashes. I like that it’s all in one product because even though lash conditioners are awesome, I don’t always want to take the time to use them in addition to everything else I’ve got going on.
Hourglass Cosmetics are available at Apothica & Sephora, and the Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara runs $28 at both.