The Body Shop Hot Brights Summer Collection is available online kids! If you’re wanting a fun, slightly funky look for your Summer look do check it.
Jump ahead for the full retails on this collection!
The Body Shop Summer Collection looks interesting enough this year. The packaging is always interesting with The Body Shop and they didn’t fail at making a fun packaging for it’s Hot Brights Collection. The palettes have sweet flower motif emblems on the covers, quite nice. The collection doesn’t have a whole lot of wow inspiring colors but I see a few odd pieces that I can get on board with! The collection is sectioned into two groups, one being the color cosmetics and the other being the sun/tanning/bronzing collection. This is normally how The Body Shop does their collection every year so you have two available options of either color or a more tropical, Summery look using their bronze items. Have a look below for more details!
Check out some of the color collection release from The Body Shop for Summer ’09!
The Body Shop Hot Brights Blush available in two shades selections. This blush is a duo which includes a lighter and darker blush for contouring, highlighting, or mixing together for a pinch of color!
The Body Shop Hot Brights Eye Color available in two shades is a duo shadow with a lighter and darker shadow for a contrasting eye look or use separately for two different looks!
The Body Shop Hot Brights EyeLiner is a duo pencil available in two shade choices. This duo liner pairs up with the Hot Brights Shadows for a dramatic, fun Summer eye look.
The Body Shop Hot Brights Lip Shine/Cheek Stain is also dual sided (I see a theme developing here) and available in two shades. Contains a gloss on one end and a cheek stain on the other.
The Body Shop Shimmer Cubes 16 is the newest shimmer cube palette with array of sunkissed colors for a sparkling Summer look!
If it’s sun you see check out a few of the offerings for the sun goddess in you from The Body Shop!
The Body Shop Nature’s Minerals Bronzing Powder is a loose shimmering bronzer to create a sparkling sunny look!
The Body Shop Body and Leg Shine is a old favorite that gets introduced year after year. Slick this on your legs or body for a touch of the sun! The Muse imagines if you’re daring you can get away with a slick on your cheeks for a hint of color
The Body Shop Kabuki Bronzing Brush should get you all covered with Summer from head to toe!
Ok, peeps…it’s going to get hot soon and humid. I’m deciding if that’s a yuk or a yay…hmm!
Anyway as it becomes warmer you may find that your make up begins to melt off your very face (it happens sadly!), particularly your shadow…oh noes! Why, jebus, why!? Was that dramatic? The Muse loves drama.
But yes indeed your shadow may fade, crease, etc….or you may be prone to oily eye lids…my god how do people with oily lids cope? My big sis has oily lids and it’s a nightmare. I don’t have this problem but I can sooooo understand how crummy it must be!
No worries…perfect solution for mattifying those eyes, getting your shadows to last all day, and other general problems are solved after the jump!
Anastasia Beverly Hills Eye Lights Matte to save the day! This versatile, multitasking cream to powder pencil can be used to highlight, mattify, prime, prep, and conceal all while looking really pretty in a sweet peachy pink color and an easy to use pencil. Loves it!
The pencil is a nude peachy pink shade that wakes up tired eyes, refreshes the eye area and creates a good base for shadows. If you have oily lids you’re definitely going to want to give this a whirl as the formula has an incredible matte finish that’s sure to keep lids from being an oily mess. The pencil can multitask as a highlighter for your brow area, a quick touch up for brightening up under your eyes (be gone tired eyes), or as a base for your shadows which not only mattifies but also intensifies colors. Or if you’re feeling minimal just use it as a quickie touch up to give eyes a refreshed, natural look.
The Muse recs it for those warm, hot days ahead when you need an extra little something to keep your shadow in place or evil oily lids at bay!
My little eye spies the brand new Excel Shimmer Mix Shadows available from Sana this Summer!
Pretties!
Available in three shades for 1,260 yen each these pretty mosaic shadows look quite interesting. I have three of these LE’s from a few year’s ago but they are solid colors and not as pretty. The finish is a heavy duty shimmer so if you’re not a big fan of such a finish I’d avoid but for those of us that are sparkle junkies these should please!
Colors available are SM01 (Pink), SM02 (Gold) and SM03 (Green).
I got my By Lauren Luke Luscious Greens Palette last week! Squee! Very exciting as I was quite hyped to try this out. I spoke a little about Lauren several days ago do check that out here.
Jump ahead for the review!
One minor tiny rant before I get on with the review. They failed to include a tutorial with the palette. Lauren has the tutorial up on youTube which is great but I’d have loved if they included a little card with the palette explaining how to achieve the look. Ideally I’d love a little CD with her tutorial on it but that would probably cost quite a good deal more money however a small card would be appreciated. Aside from this the palette is pretty much ace with me.
The packaging of the palette is delightful. It’s a large size palette with a full size mirror that contains two shadow primers, three shadows, two lip colors, one eyeliner and one blush. The palette is $34 USD which is a decent price for a palette of this size. The palette is slim, black, and simple with a pretty flower motif on the front and a tiny amount of text that says “By Lauren Luke” and the palette’s name, My Luscious Greens.
All the items in the palette blend beautifully, have fantastic color pay off, and pack quite good bit of make up inside. This isn’t cheap or shoddy by any means, it’s great makeup and obviously Lauren is proud of it for a reason as it’s definitely good quality.
To start the look you’ll be using the primer. One of two shades are available, I used the lighter of the two. It creates a good solid base for shadows and allows the shadow to blend nicely plus it lets the shadow stay on all day and adds intensity. Yes, it does indeed keep shadows from creasing or fading. I put it to the test by forgoing my beloved UDPP for it this morning and it worked an absolute treat.
I did my look a tad different from Lauren’s tut. I ended up applying the lighter shade of green on my lids and the darker contrasting shade on my crease. I followed this up by pairing the golden lighter green as a highbrow highlighter. This simply created a pretty, mysterious green look. The shadows all have a velvet finish however the darker green does have a tad bit of a matte, satin finish but it still blends easily however use with care as it’s VERY pigmented. The liner is a nice texture and although I didn’t use it above my eye, it did work nicely on my waterline. It has a nice dense formula and it applies easily and flawlessly.
I followed up my look with the iridescent sheer peach blush. This I didn’t like simply because I’m used to louder blush shades. This is a very natural, sheer peach shade which almost works as more of a highlighter for your face. It completes and compliments the eye look beautifully but it’s a tad too sheer for my liking.
Finally both lip shades are very nice and again they complete the look nicely and pair up well with the shades in the palette. You’ll get two shades which are a nude peach and a deeper rosey peach shade. Both are plenty pigmented and look quite pretty on the lips. You can use the darker shade as a liner if you like and fill with the lighter shade.
It deserves to be mentioned, if you’re a tad anal, that the palette does indeed have fall out issues. It will become a tad messy if you aren’t careful and you’ll end up with blush in your lip colors and possibly have primer end up on the palette, etc…..but this happens with most any palette, you’ll just have to cope sadly.
Overall, I think the palette is quite a quality item and at $34 USD the price isn’t too bad. It’s an ideal palette for those who desire a complete look without having to spend a ton of time on that look. It’s also incredibly user friendly for those who are just starting out with makeup or anyone who finds it difficult to apply makeup. This simplifies things so very much and even teaches you the best shades to pair up plus how to blend a lighter and a darker shade. As I mentioned the only thing missing was a tutorial and I hope Lauren will consider adding one in at a later date as she’ll pave a way for the makeup world if she did. As we know it’s rare any makeup outside of Asia comes with a “how to”.
By Lauren Like is an incredible line and I think I’ll be indulging in one or two more of her palettes. I look forward to keeping my eye on Lauren to see what she springs on us next.
My completed look:
I’m Muse Approving her palettes for ease of use, quality, and there nice price tag! Likey!
Juice Newton said it best, playing with the Queen of Hearts baby!
A few people requested a review of Lush Queen of Hearts and since I only had a tiny silver in my soap dish I ended up buying a slab so I could review it for you. Love me much?
Lush Queen of Hearts is a completion soap. Yes, that means it’s a soap you use on your face. As in a bar of soap! Horror! Anyone wince when I said a bar of soap? Didn’t our mother’s tell us never use a bar of soap on our faces? If you wash your face with soap you should be ashamed!
No worries though Queen of Hearts is the awesome and meant exclusively for the skin on your face. If you’re familiar with rose water and glycerin toner, Queen of Hearts is the equivalent in a soap bar form. It’s a gentle cleanser made with a base of rose petals and cocoa butter to keep skin nice and moisturized. Almond and balancing geranium oils make your skin soft and do it all without drying your skin out.
So how do you use it?
As you would any soap. Wet it, later up, and rinse. The soap is gentle, non drying and removes makeup beautifully (not waterproof mascara mind you but everything else gets whisked away). Your skin is left feeling moist, dewy, and fresh after use. It’s possibly one of my favorite ways to get clean even better than cleansing oil in some cases. I don’t pay as much attention to Lush Queen of Hearts as I do my other skincare items which is a shame as it’s a great bargain since a 3.5oz bar will set you back $7 bucks and last you literally ages plus my dry skin sucks up the incredible formula.
I’d actually recommend it for most any skin type as it’s soothing and not overly moisturizing. It smells of clean fresh roses. There isn’t much not to like about Queen of Hearts.
I highly recommend trying this out while it’s still available (it’s a Retro item so who knows if it’ll disappear sometime soon!). As I mentioned the price is amazing plus it gets skin clean while being gentle enough for oily skin types and offering moisture to those with dry.
Truly the perfect bar of soap…yes I said bar of soap…for your skin!
Comes with my highest recommendation for purchase! Undoubtedly Muse Approved.
Anyone try?
Love?
Tell me about your experience with Lush Queen or Hearts of Lush skincare in general!
Please tell me I’m not the only one addicted to the famous Soap & Glory scent? I just love taking big sniffs of this stuff, it’s like crack I tell you! I stock up on the shower gel like no one’s biz because it smells so incredible (I sometimes wash my hair with it too shhhh!).
My second go to item is the Soap & Glory Wash Your Hands Of It Hand Wash. Hey, the next best thing is having Soap & Glory scented hands loves it!
Does anyone even have a name for what this smells like? It’s kinda a bit muscular isn’t it? I can’t even describe it, just get to Target (or Boots) and sniff it!
Soap & Glory Wash Your Hands Of It is made with shea butter for a soothing hand wash hey it even has built in skin conditioners! It’s made with dry hands in mind as it’s meant to sooth, moisturize, and not dry out hands.
Likey!
But it’s the smell that gets this Muse every time…oh that incredible smell…I wish I could describe it but words fail me, it’s hard to make this Muse speechless.
It could be considered on the expensive side as it is $9.99 USD for an 8.4oz size and I tell ya the way this Muse washes her hands that could last two days at most. But I think it’s a worth it indulgence. By the way the cute retro packaging doesn’t hurt either!
Loves it!
Go have a sniff at Target and come back and tell me if you don’t fall for it quick! Total Muse Approval for purchase.
The Muse has a thing for mint. She loves it. In her hair care, in her bath and body regime…in her toothpaste? Oh wait, everyone likes it in their toothpaste right?
But seriously, there is nothing like mint in your shower to refresh you during a warm day or to wake you up (in a cold, chilling way) on a Monday morning! Philip B Peppermint and Avocado Volumizing & Clarifying Shampoo brings the mint plus washes my hair clean through with a delightful tingle!
Check it below!
Philip B Peppermint and Avocado Volumizing & Clarifying Shampoo is one of Philip B’s most acclaimed products and it’s obvious why with first use. This powerful aromatic shampoo gets your hair singing in the morning. It clairifies hair with a formula of sixteen pure plant extracts, eleven essential and carrier oils plus a cool blast of 2.3% pure peppermint oil.
Omg! Loves this stuff! For serious! It literally makes my scalp tingle and proceeds to follow up with a cooling sensation that’s positively addicting! It makes my hair feel utterly clean and fresh plus thee gorgeous minty fresh scent wakes me up in the morning that is of course if the cooling tingling feeling didn’t help!
The formula is safe for color-treated hair as well so it’s ideal for just about anyone who needs a shampoo that will clarify their hair plus wake their lazy bum up in the morning.
The Muse only has the 2oz size but she obviously needs to spring for the 11.8oz size for $40 bucks! Philip B Peppermint and Avocado Volumizing & Clarifying Shampoo fastest favorite evers!
Muse Approved for purchase if you’re a minty junkie like me!
Step right up for a Beauty Battle first here at Musings! This is the first time I’ve paired a posh line of cosmetic with a no name e-tailer brand of cosmetic. Is this kind of competition even fair? Probably not but let’s see who can win this Beauty Battle! It’s NARS vs FaceFront, to the death!
Let the battle begin!
Pairing up NARS Blush with FaceFront Cosmetics isn’t exactly a fair fight if we get right down to it but since discovering FaceFront Cosmetics Cheek UP Blush in I’m Faunally Yours I couldn’t help but think what a amazing dupe it was for NARS Angelika. Hmmmm I hear the call of a Beauty Battle!
It deserves to be mentioned the shades are almost identical down to the slight shimmer each contains. The color is a delightful bubblegum pink that gives cheeks a nice flush. Considering the shade is a great dupe we’ll have to compare size, blending skills, packaging, and price.
Weighing in at 42oz in a loose powder form, I’m Faunally Yours is $16 USD. The blush is pigmented, has a nice shimmery finish, and comes in a decent enough packaging but nothing too fancy. It blends beautifully and leaves behind a cool pink color on cheeks that’s quite flattering, flirty, and very girlish. Taking packaging into consideration I’d say it’s a tad on the cheap side but nothing terrible and I’ve seen far worst. Considering what a cult following NARS has it’s difficult to put a small name e-tailer against such a high street brand but we shall see who knocks out who!
Running up on the wings of I’m Faunally Yours is NARS Angelika. All NARS fans agree the packaging does have a certain chic feels but also annoys us a fair bit as well since it quickly becomes a mess. At $25 USD it’s not cheap and it’s no where near the same size as FaceFront Cheek UP with a size of 0.16oz. That small size could throw this battle as honestly we can all agree the better deal lays elsewhere.
Packaging wise neither wins the game that’s for sure! Color wise they are both a winner plus pigmentation, quality of the blush, and ease of blending they both cover that base. The real punch comes from FaceFront Cosmetics Cheek UP’s price tag. At $16 USD for a nice size it’s obviously the better bargain which brings it in for a win here. Sorry NARS, FaceFront has you here! As much of NARS fan girl I am, I do so admit the bargain lays with FaceFront plus it even has a tad more pop than NARS Angelika.
The Muse awards this Beauty Battle to FaceFront Cheek UP Blush, best bargain price and a killer blush with plenty of pop!
Max Factor 2000 Calorie EXtreme Lash Plumper has a little yellow ticker on the front of the box that reads, “CAUTION: Causes Extreme Lash Plumping”. The Muse thinks it should read, “CAUTION: Extremely large applicator inside!” Holy jebus! These size of the applicator is like a club! You can kill somebody with this thing. It’s about twice the size of a normal wand and the applicator head is double the size too…sheesh who does Max Factor think is going to use this? A baby elephant?
Jump ahead for the deets on this brand new mascara from Max Factor!
Please if you’re clumsy with mascara do avoid this. I can just picture someone who isn’t too mascara suavy poking their eye out with this thing, hey it could happen.
The mascara promises fatter, thicker, more dramatic lashes. It performs well enough with lashes and creates a fuller lash look however it’s large brush applicator is terribly clumsy. Without careful application you could end up with a clumpy mess of mascara instead of longer lashes. I’m unsure what they were thinking when they created this as the applicator brush and just the handle is about three times the normal size of a regular mascara wand. It’s amazingly chunky and difficult to grasp and makes application a little tricky.
The finished results are nice but it isn’t anything I got too excited about in all honestly. I get fatter lashes but as far as length goes I don’t see too much of a difference, nothing dramatic that’s for sure.
Honestly, I’d probably not buy again if I ran out as there are much better options to choose from. The applicator is definitely a deal breaker for me but the formula and results were lacking as well.
I can’t stress the overwhelming feeling of want when it comes to Dior Addict Lip Glow. Just a touch of customized lip color? Yes, please.
Sephora Cooling Cover Stick conceals plus preps and primes lids for shadows for $12 bucks. Not a bad deal! The Muse wants to take it for a spin as she does with almost all concealers she meets up with!
I feel the love for Guerlain Summer 2009, need I say much more?
Splish, Splash! I want Philosophy Apricots and Cream in my shower this Summer!
One tends to forget about MAC Creation Hues but not when they smell like roses! The Muse sniffed this overlooked fragrance for the first time this weekend and fell in lust! Wants it!
The Muse reviewed FaceFront Cosmetics for you a few months ago. She wasn’t particularly delighted with the shadows she hauled at that time but she was pretty thrilled with the quality of their blushes.
She did decide to brave the shadow front again recently and haul a few more blushes!
Click below for it!
As I mentioned I’m quite a fan of the FaceFront Cosmetics Cheek UP Blush. They make a mighty fine mineral blush plus the colors are unique and different compared to other e-tailer blush companies around which has me going back again and again as they release new shades. I can’t begin to say enough good things about these blushes and I highly rec nabbing some. The two I got this time around were Frawn Prawn and I’m Faunally Yours. Frawn Prawn is a nice hot bubblegum pink shade with a tiny hint of a shimmer where as I’m Faunally Yours is sheer true pink. Out of the two I’m Fanually Yours was a fast favorite. At first glance I was super worried this was going to be too sheer but turns out it’s a fantastic dupe for NARS Angelika (right down to the shimmer). It gives my cheeks a delightful pinch of pink that I’m loving for a fresher look. Both shades are nice and pigmented. I’m quite happy with the two. These are $16 USD each for a healthy amount (12g).
I also got one shadow in Kept Coral. This was a much better purchase than the past shadows I tried from FaceFront but I didn’t like it too much since it was matte. However, pigmentation was way better than the shadows I got with my last order and it’s quite a nice Summer shade. It’s a fiery coral color which has faint shimmer but for the most part it applies a tad on the matte side (which accounts for my dislike).
All in all I’m quite pleased with this second order and I’m always open to what FaceFront Cosmetics has in store for us in the future! Likey! Check out those blushes I loves ‘em!
The Muse loves how innovative Demeter Fragrance is. Particularly when they are busy introducing fragrances that smell like..a funeral home?
Gotta love it!
Jump ahead for the sweet smell of strange!
If you’re looking for unique you probably should head over to Dememter Fragrances, they have unique, wild, crazy, and a little strange on the back burner waiting for you!
Check below for some of the crazy blends the Muse wonders about (who buys this stuff anyway?).
You’d be lying if you said you never ate paste or sniffed glue. I remember in second grade we’d eat the craft paste our art teacher had in big jumbo size tubs. I also recall sniffing glue because it smelled so good, not for the buzz….honest! Re-live your youth with Demeter Glue!
I’m not partial to the delightful scent of Play-Doh but Demeter obviously thinks some people are!
Turpentine? Holy cow that’s some serious high!
I love seafood, who doesn’t? But my love does not extend to smelling like it. Thanks but no thanks.
Embalming fluid comes to mind….is that macabre?
I believe you’ll need a bit of Dirt with that Funeral Home! What? It’s the next logical step I’m told.
I can get on board with the scent of crayons! Who didn’t love the smell of a freshly opened pack of crayolas? That was what loved smelled like when I was five year’s old!
I think it’s safe to say they pretty much got it all covered. Now I’m just waiting for them to introduce shrimp scampi, a meatball sub and gas. I’d so buy gas!
Name a few crazy blends you think Demeter should take on!
As part of it’s Summer 2009 Collection Too Faced introduced three new stand alone blushes entitled Pinch My Petals Blush.
Click below for the review and more photos!
I love that Too Faced has extended their rather cute, retro glam girl packaging to their single product cosmetics. They normally reserve this style packaging for their popular Quickie Palettes so I’m quite delighted that they created three single blushes in this design. I’m actually hopeful that this could set the wheels in motion for them to extend themselves further on such packaging. Each blush features a different pin up girl, too cute! These are a flip style durable cardboard compact with mirror. Too Faced Pinch My Petals Blush ($19.50 USD) is available in three shades so far which are Pinch My Petals (sheer pink), Mocha Mi Amore (muddy brown), and Papa Don’t Peach (peach/coral).
If I’m honest I really didn’t like Mocha Mi Amore or Pinch My Petals. Mocha Mi Amore was terribly dark on me and quite muddy, not a flattering shade at all. And Pinch My Petals was too sheer to really enjoy and a tad on the chalky side as well. The real star of the collection is Papa Don’t Peach which could pass for a subdued Orgasm-like shade. The pigmentation was lacking a tad bit on both Mocha Mi Amore and Pinch My Petals plus the matte finishes just weren’t working in the least for this Muse however Papa Don’t Peach definitely had a nice slightly shimmery finish with plenty of pigmentation, quite a lovely Summer shade.
Overall, I love the packaging, liking the price (not too bad a deal at $19.50) but was a tad disappointed only one of the three shades worked for me. As I mentioned I look forward Too Faced possibly introducing other items with this style packaging, that much is a big win for me.
Oh hello there inexpensive way to get clean, smell pretty, and moisturize my body too!
If you’re looking for the big three’s in a body wash check out Dove Go Fresh Body Wash and Dove Go Fresh Soap. The big three you say Muse? What’s that? Well you want something that multitasks right? Something to wash your skin with quickly in the AM plus something that smells pretty and makes YOU smell pretty, and finally something that isn’t tough on your skin and offers a nice moisturizing finish.
Dove Go Fresh Burst Body Wash in Nectarine and White Ginger is the perfect beauty budget shower wash option. This sweet, tart citrus smelling shower gel has a nice foaming lather that moisturizes skin and leaves you smelling lovely. The formula is a gel wash which makes the Muse sing in the shower. The Dove Go Fresh Burst Soap is just as a nice and perfect for layering up with the wash, get yourself doubly clean!
Btw did you hear about the Gossip Girl: Real NYC Stories Revealed that’s sponsored by Dove Go Fresh? I heart Gossip so damn much. I haven’t watched yet but Gossip Girl star Jessica Szhor (Vanessa) is promoting the new program to celebrate the launch of Dove Go Fresh Burst Body Wash.
The video series gives Gossip Girl fans a glimpse into the real lives of four young women who live in the same Manhattan hotbed as the Gossip Girl characters. Basically it’s the story about their life, career, love interests, family, and friends. Sounds like MTV Real World starring Manhattan’s elite. I can barely tolerate B and S sometimes imagine having to watch real life socialites in their everyday lives? I’m unsure if I’m excited or scared! Count me curious though! I’ll give my thoughts after I viewed the videos! Anyone watch ‘em yet? Tell me the deets!
Meet the girls (and watch their lives unfold) by visiting http://www.dove.us
You can Dove Go Fresh Burst Body Wash and Dove Go Fresh Burst Soap at your local drugstore.
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