Happy Summer! I consider June 1st the beginning of Summer even though it’s technically the 21st, hey who’s countin’ right?
The good news is, at least good for me, is I’m off on holiday for several days! Yay! Resting, relaxing, and enjoying a beautiful tropical island. Phew I need a break to say the least.
The bad news is that Musings is going on holiday with me which means no updates until I get back home. However, I did schedule two Summer reviews for you that should be posting right before this one. Hopefully you’re enjoying those right now.
While I’m away I hope you’ll find some fun in my archives or by searching my site for reviews you may have missed. Or discovering some of my most popular posts!
And of course to kick off Summer right a brand new look for Musings as well which I hope you like. Bright, Summery colors should get you in the mood for the warm weather ahead.
Clarins always has a special knack for making me fall in love with each of their releases. They truly take cosmetics to a new height and nothing is quite as gorgeous this season as some of the pieces found in the Clarims Summer Collection.
One such piece is the Clarins Instant Sun Light Shimmer Palette that multitasks it’s way through my Summer by taking care of eyes, cheeks, and if I’m feeling risque my decollete.
Jump ahead for a peek at Clarins Instant Sun Light Shimmer Palette!
Made up of three shimmering shades of the Sun, Clarins Instant Light Shimmer Palette can be used as an eyeshadow, a highlighter, or for a touch of sparkle on your body such as arms and chest!
The palette consists of shades that remind me of the warmth of a Summer sun sinking beneath the waves of an ocean after a long, hot day. Sunny yellow, bold orange, and beautiful pink sparkle happily in this palette. All three shades combined create a beautiful sparkling effect on cheeks or use them together (or separately) on your lids for a pretty Sunset eye look!
I’ve already used the powder on both my face and eyes but I do prefer keeping it as a shadow simply because brushing my blush brush in it kicks up quite a good deal of powder and I feel like I’m wasting product like this. The colors are nicely pigmented and have a shimmery, iridescent finish. They blend beautifully together to create an orange, yellow cocktail with a kiss of pink. I used the yellow on my lid and the orange on my crease in the photo below for a Summery sun eye look. You can get three separate looks from the colors or mix and match them for several other looks. The formula is silky smooth and blends nicely on lids. As for the face it’s just as nice but could prove a tad too shimmery for some so you might want to stick to use it as a shadow. It looks quite nice on freshly tanned arms and chest as I tried it on my sister and it gave just the right amount of sunkissed sparkle to her skin.
Overall, I think the Clarins Instant Sun Light Shimmer Palette is well worth picking up as it’ll multitask it’s way through Summer and well into Fall if you’re feeling like getting your buck’s worth. If you’re not wanting to overindulge in makeup, pick one of these up and you’ll have your cheeks, eyes, and body all done up pretty in one simple compact.
When I originally discussed Lorac Baked Matte Satin Blush with you I was in high debate if I wanted to indulge. The “matte” part really threw a Muse off. Am I the only one that finds the idea of a matte blush terribly unappealing? I was just thinking matte eyeshadow such a difficult blending process, imagine blush? How would that work?
Jump ahead to find out if matte works in a blush!
Turns out my fears of a matte blush are unfounded by the fact that Lorac Baked Matte Satin Blush is more of a satiny finish with a sheer layer of sparkle. Quite gorgeous to say the least. So far I’ve only picked up one shade in this blush and I couldn’t be happier that I indulged. The formula is silky smooth with a nice satin finish and the barest hint of shimmer. For a baked product you’ll get nice color pay off which is sometimes not always the case with baked shadows or blushes. I was quite impressed with the natural, fresh glow that blush gave me cheeks. I picked this up at Sephora in the shade Exposed which has hints of both peach and pink. It reminds me a bit of a watermelon candy for some reason or another.
I didn’t peek at the Lorac Baked Matte Satin Eye Shadow because I was in a rush but I’m now wanting to go back and have a look, see at those plus pick up the other shades in this blush. The shade is truly unique with a very nice finish. I’m Muse Approving it for purchase! Quite a pretty blush for Summer wear!
Loving all over Canadian Brand, Annabelle’s Summer Collection for 2009. Entitled Hydropolis the collection is a tiny release of three strip style eyeshadow palettes in three different shade selections!
Looks rather nice!
Click ahead for some face charts using the palettes!
The palettes look very nice and come with five strips of color in three separate shade selections. Aquatech is a cocktail of aquas and greens. Amberwave is made up of browns, oranges, and bronzes. And WaterLily is a combination of various pinks. I can’t verify price as these are exclusive to Canada however I’m sure they pop up on Evil-bay sooner or later if you’re interested!
Ahhh eye shadow. Bless be the woman who created eye shadow! The Muse has plenty of shades she loves.
Find out 10 she possibly couldn’t live without by clicking below!
Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Maui Wowie and Midnight Cowboy, these are golden, they shimmer, they contain heaps and heaps of sparkle, and I love ‘em. Can’t do without, no way, no how.
MAC LoveStone long since gone but big enough to last me into my next life! Swirling shades of beautiful maroon, red, hints of shimmering orange and gold…you get the point? Love!
I’ve done an ode to MAC FireSpot prior to this but it’s worth speaking of my great love again. Bright pigmented fiery orange, indeed it’s love!
Milani Runway Eyes in Beach Sand is full of shimmery gold, I see a trend developing. Best shadow that Milani carries, hands down. It’s Summer right? So sportin’ this all through those long, hot days!
ALL of the Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eye Shadows are to die for but the soft pink allure and shimmer of Ballet holds the Muse’s heart.
I remember my rave about Napoleon Eye Patrol in Private Angel when my blog was still new, not alot has changed in regards to my feelings for this shadow. Again, another shimmering shade of gold and oh so pretty!
I’ve been known to get excited about Vincent Longo Wet Diamond Eye Shadow. Verite is my fav shade from the collection, believe me I have ‘em all! Deepest army green around with plenty of sparkle.
B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful in Burke is always my fav eye shadow wash. Shimmering white makes the perfect prep for my bolder shadow shades!
Mattese N.Y.C. Shadow Dust in Queen is not only cheap as day old chips but gorgeous. The deepest shade of turquoise this Muse has ever had the pleasure of owning!
Those are my 10 Eye Shadows I can’t leave without! What are some of yours?
Ok, I admit I buy into all the worst gimmicky products. I’m kinda feeling like Bath and Body Works Cooling Mist is a gimmick but I can’t help but love it. Have you tried these yet? I actually ventured into Bath and Body Works a week or two ago (not by choice, my friend Jen absolutely had to go inside or have a coronary. I choose inside rather than perform CPR), braved the scary, scary vulture SA’s, and picked up Bath and Body Works Cooling Mist in White Citrus.
Likey!
Bath and Body Works Cooling Mist in White Citrus is a refreshing, cooling body spray. Yes, that would be the gimmick part I suppose. It seems terribly pointless to have a cooling mist that’s scented. I love the idea as it does feel wonderfully refreshing on my skin and very cool but the fact that it’s scented takes away from the point. Kinda? Sorta? Or maybe that’s me.
But the good news is not only is it cooling and refreshing it smells darn nice too. White Citrus is the newest scent to the BBW line and quite lovely. The scent is very fresh and clean with touches of citrus, a tiny itty bitty hint of musk, and plenty of crispy green notes. It’s been a while since any one scent from BBW has captured my interest but this is nice. Actually I liked it so much I may go ahead and order the other bits such as the body splash and such online. What? You didn’t think I’d go back into the store did you? Once a year is plenty to make my pilgrimage through a Bath and Body Works shop. When the SA’s learn how to get off my back that’s when I’ll start heading back in store.
I’m kinda feeling the love for Bath and Body Works White Citrus and Muse Approving it for purchase! Pretty blend for Summer! Get the cooling mist you can be cool and smell pretties.
Since I’m happily prancing around lately telling the world how great bronzer is, who knew the bronzer bug would bite me, I’m happy to relate to you that Dior Bronze Lumières D’or Face And Lip Palette is on my wishy list!
Oh how pretty you are Miss Dior! I wants you for my very own.
Featuring a dual side of gold and bronze press powder and a golden lip gloss this fairly screams my name. I love the idea of topping bronzer with a hit of golden shimmer and this takes care of all that in one simple compact love, love, love it!
I love a good deal lately. I dunno when or how but over the course of a year I’ve become Miss Cheap. Always looking for the best price, always looking to save cash…yeah well that never works but it’s the effort I put into trying that counts ok?!
So….
Sephora Brand Mono EyeShadows aren’t so fabulous. I have one, maybe two hanging out in my makeup graveyard. Obviously Sephora has also realized what rubbish they are because damn they are giving them away for free! Did you see those new Sephora Brand Mono Eye Shadow Kits? It started out with one but now they got 50 different kits going on for brown, blue, green, hazel, light blue, and every other eye shade out there.
These kits include ten full size Sephora Mono Eye Shadows….yup, I suspect they’d rather not clearance them and just threw them in a kit.
Don’t be a victim, remind yourself the Muse has some that haven’t been used in a long, long time! Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean we have to buy it.
I could possibly be putting myself in a position here where everyone from LA proceeds to hate me but….what’s so awesome about the Lakers? I’m just not into the entire basketball scene but it seems like people from LA are crazed about the Lakers.
Ok, I said it.
Don’t be hurt all you folk that leave out in Hollywoodland, the Muse loves you.
However, I can get on board with the LA Lakers now as they seem to love Stila. Anyone who loves Stila is a friend of the Muse’s!
Check it!
Stila is actually proudly sponsoring the beauty wardrobe for the LA Laker Girls. Ha coolness! Stila also sponsored last night’s Kiss Me Cam @ the Laker’s game!
Do you think this means we might get a Stila Loves the LA Lakers Collection? I can so go for those colors. Yum! Bring it! Psstt better yet how about an eyeshadow named after the Muse?
Dontcha know that a vibrating mascara is simply not enough? We must have a vibrating primer as well!
Lancôme Oscillation Powerbooster is available exclusively at Nordies for $39 USD…hmmmm not so sure about the price. It vibrates, it primes, it makes you look pretty and for that price it could walk the dog and take out the garbage too, can’t verify yet but I feel the need to possibly pick it up out of curiosity!
Find out why I’m curious….
Don’t lie you know you’re curious what exactly a vibrating primer does. I am. This supposedly boosts the appearance of natural lash growth and creates a thickness and density so that lashes not only look fuller but are fuller. The product promotes a natural lash growth that’s visible each day you use the primer.
Slap me curious!
I wants one. Sign me up please.
Lancôme Oscillation Powerbooster is available via pre-order from Nordstrom right now.
Philosophy you think I’m wonderful? No, no you are!
I’m always quite found of raving about how far Philosophy has come with it’s 3-in-1 Shower Gel range. It’s gotten so much better over the years and they continue to absolutely floor me with brand new scents that I have to collect!
Check out their newest collection available exclusively at Nordies below!
Philosophy I Think You Are Wonderful Gift Set is a set of 2, 8oz bottles of Philosophy 3-in-1 Shower Gel in the scents mandarin orange and cherry. Omg! Cherry! I want cherry! After I got done getting all excited about cherry scented shower gel I proceeded to run around and think of how great it would be mixing cherry AND orange in the shower. Mmmm fruity!
Philosophy I Think You Are Wonderful Gift Set is available now from Nordstrom for $24 USD.
The Muse wants it please so she can feel all wonderfuls!
Another sneaky peek of what’s on sale for you next week at your local drugstore!
Drive on by….!
$1 Off (With Your Duane Reade Card) All Neutrogena Cosmetics
$2 Off (With Your Duane Reade Card) All Almay Pure Blend Cosmetics
$9.99 All Physicians Formula Bronzers
$1 Off (With Your Duane Reade Card) All Maybelle Eye Shadow and Liner
Buy 1, Get 1 Free L’Oreal Skin Genesis Products
Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off All Skin Care, Sun Care, Bath or First Aid Products from the following brands:
Aveeno Eucerin Biore Cetaphil Garnier Nutritionise Gold Bond Jergens L’Oreal Neutrogena (excludes Sun Care items) Nivea Olay Regenerist Or Total Effects Vaseline Intensive Care St. Ives Skin Care
40% Off Almay Cosmeitcs
Buy 1, Get 50% Off All Lip Products from the following brands: Maybelline Neutrogena CoverGirl Jane Prestige Revlon
3 for $9.99 Maybelline Great Lash or Nail Polish (Mix and Match if you want)
Buy 1, Get 1 Free All L’Oreal Lip Cosmetics
Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off All Physicians Formula Cosmetics
Buy Any L’Oreal Foundation, Get a Powder, Concealer, or Blush of your choice free
L’Oreal Extra-Volume Collagen Mascara $7.99
$5 Any CoverGirl Exact Eyelights, Lashblast, Luxe, Volume, or Lash Exact Mascara
Can I tell you, at one time in my life I didn’t like palettes! Gasp! Horror! I know right? I’d so go for single shadows, tons of glosses, heaps of lipstick but never went for palettes at all. The only palettes I would buy for a very long, long time was Dior Limited Edition ones, this was back when Dior was making some seriously ridiculously girly palettes.
Anyway.
I was of the mentality that palettes were messy and didn’t really give me what I wanted, etc….
As for now?
I’m an addict. I’m absolutely palette mad. It’s not even so much that most palettes get you the best bang for your buck, it’s just more of an “Oh My God! That’s Gorg! Must haves it!” Do you ever feel that way about palettes? Shrugs could be just me.
Moral of this story is that The Body Shop actually has a brand new palette they released with their Summer Collection. I know, who knew? The Body Shop and a palette? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them do a palette quite like this….!
Check it after the jump!
If you like palettes or you’re just wanting alot of everything for a little price tag you can check out The Body Shop Eye, Lip, and Cheek Palette. Basically has everything you need to create a complete face look or several looks for that matter. Travel friendly to say the least if you’re a minimal type that hates traveling with a slew of makeup, here it be, all in one spot. Tote it around with you on holiday or stash it in your desk draw for quickie touch ups. It’s $30 USD and it snags you pretty much everything and the kitchen sink.
You’ll get:
The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara
The Body Shop Liquid Lip Colors in Pink Sparkle and Golden Coral
The Body Shops Cheek Color in Golden Pink
The Body Shop Eyeshadows in Shell, Pink, Spearmint, and Slate
Plus a mini blusher and shadow brush!
All the items above come housed in a slick, black box with a little ribbon closure that sports The Body Shop emblem. The shades are pretty universal so you can use them just about anytime of the year. The blush is quite an interesting shade and reminds me of NARS Orgasm but a good deal more pigmented so use lightly. The shadows you get are creamy white, black, soft teal, and pink. These are all velvet texture and are a chalky but still manage to apply nicely to the lid, quite smooth and buttery in texture with plenty of pigmentation. The glosses are a nice little extra. They aren’t terribly glossy and they are sheer but they lend a little twinkle and shine to lips plus having them tucked inside makes the palette complete for eyes, lips, and cheeks! The mascara may be mini but it packs a rather large, bushy applicator brush which does a very good job of lengthening lashes and adding nice volume. I was kinda shocked with this as I never tried Body Shop mascara prior to this and the small size had me worried it wouldn’t be so good, but good it was. Both brushes included are super soft although the blusher blush is a tad small to do my face with but I found that it worked a treat for blending my shadow hehe!
You can get any number of looks from the palette and it’s rather ideal for travel considering how strict the airlines are. If you like softer, pastel shades or you’re just a lover of palettes this should appeal.
The Body Shop Eye, Lip, and Cheek Palette is available now at http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com or visit your local Body Shop to swatch and have a play! I know mine was offering free make overs using the palette and the Summer Collection if you’re interested!
I did two looks for you using the palette. The first look I used the creamy white as a highbrow highlighter, the pink on my lid, and a bit of the sheer aqua on my lower lash line and finished with Pink Sparkle gloss on my lips. The second photo I used the aqua all over my lid, you know how addicted I am to anything that’s aqua! Both photos I am using The Body Shop mascara.
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