So if you’ve been following so far, I recounted Friday’s adventures in my previous post. Now it’s on to Saturday’s.

I met up with my friend, Kelly, at Sephora to do a little shopping and browsing. I showed her the Benefit Boi-ing concealer which I had purchased for my mother-in-law for Christmas after reading many a-glowing review on various beauty blogs. Kelly and I both sampled the product on ourselves (under the eyes) and declared it a winner. The texture was light and highly blendable, and the coverage unbeatable. So we each popped one into our shopping bag.

Since I was at the Benefit stall anyway, I asked a sales rep to help me with the Benefit Benetint. I’d been reading about this product for ages and finally got up the nerve to try it. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a liquid blush. The product is watery and rose colored. The applicator is like a nail polish brush. You dab the product onto your cheeks and blend with your fingers. I thought the color was pretty good, but it just took too much effort to apply, so henceforth I am sticking to my Tarte Cheekstain. Much easier to use.

Then, Kelly asked the sales rep if she could get some help with the smoky eye look. The end result was fantastic and Kelly took home the Stila Smoky Eye Palette. THE MOST AMAZING PRODUCT EVA.

Not only does the palette have everything you need to create the smoky eye look, IT TALKS TO YOU. Yes, there’s a button that you push and the freakin’ thing starts giving you a tutorial on how to do the look! Plus, the cover of the palette is one of those hologram thingies where you tilt it and the image changes. Really, really neat and an exclusive to Sephora.

Since Kelly tried the smoky eye look, I thought I’d do the contrary and ask for an au naturale look for the eyes. I was directed to TheBalm ShadyLady Cream Eyeshadows. Apparently TheBalm is a trade industry secret and every makeup artist keeps the brand’s products in their kits.

I had my eyes dusted all over with Mysterious, a pale, pink shimmery cream shadow. Then Jinx was applied over the crease area - this was a dark brown shimmery color in the pan which was applied with a light touch for a soft look. The key here is to use a broad concealer brush with synthetic bristles. Natural hair brushes are porous and will sop up powders that are liquidy or creamy - then when you go to apply the color, it comes out blotchy and uneven. So the end result of my naked eye? A subtle, pretty look with a bit of pop thanks to the shimmer in the shadows.

Before we went to check out with our purchases, I picked up one more item. For now, I’ll have to leave you in suspense over what it was as I am still playing with it. A full report to follow!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 8:17 am and is filed under Makeup, Eye, Cheek. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

So if you’ve been following so far, I recounted Friday’s adventures in my previous post. Now it’s on to Saturday’s.

I met up with my friend, Kelly, at Sephora to do a little shopping and browsing. I showed her the Benefit Boi-ing concealer which I had purchased for my mother-in-law for Christmas after reading many a-glowing review on various beauty blogs. Kelly and I both sampled the product on ourselves (under the eyes) and declared it a winner. The texture was light and highly blendable, and the coverage unbeatable. So we each popped one into our shopping bag.

Since I was at the Benefit stall anyway, I asked a sales rep to help me with the Benefit Benetint. I’d been reading about this product for ages and finally got up the nerve to try it. If you don’t know what it is, it’s a liquid blush. The product is watery and rose colored. The applicator is like a nail polish brush. You dab the product onto your cheeks and blend with your fingers. I thought the color was pretty good, but it just took too much effort to apply, so henceforth I am sticking to my Tarte Cheekstain. Much easier to use.

Then, Kelly asked the sales rep if she could get some help with the smoky eye look. The end result was fantastic and Kelly took home the Stila Smoky Eye Palette. THE MOST AMAZING PRODUCT EVA.

Not only does the palette have everything you need to create the smoky eye look, IT TALKS TO YOU. Yes, there’s a button that you push and the freakin’ thing starts giving you a tutorial on how to do the look! Plus, the cover of the palette is one of those hologram thingies where you tilt it and the image changes. Really, really neat and an exclusive to Sephora.

Since Kelly tried the smoky eye look, I thought I’d do the contrary and ask for an au naturale look for the eyes. I was directed to TheBalm ShadyLady Cream Eyeshadows. Apparently TheBalm is a trade industry secret and every makeup artist keeps the brand’s products in their kits.

I had my eyes dusted all over with Mysterious, a pale, pink shimmery cream shadow. Then Jinx was applied over the crease area - this was a dark brown shimmery color in the pan which was applied with a light touch for a soft look. The key here is to use a broad concealer brush with synthetic bristles. Natural hair brushes are porous and will sop up powders that are liquidy or creamy - then when you go to apply the color, it comes out blotchy and uneven. So the end result of my naked eye? A subtle, pretty look with a bit of pop thanks to the shimmer in the shadows.

Before we went to check out with our purchases, I picked up one more item. For now, I’ll have to leave you in suspense over what it was as I am still playing with it. A full report to follow!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 6th, 2007 at 8:17 am and is filed under Makeup, Eye, Cheek. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.