Musings of a Muse

After much consideration I gave into temptation and ordered the Pink Clarisonic Skin Care Brush. I’ve been using the brush for over a month now and I think I’m about ready to review it so finally in all it’s glory (with minor snarky remarks here and there) here are my babblings and review of the Clarisonic Skin Care Brush.

Honestly, shelling out $195 USD for a cleaning brush totally made me groan in agonizing pain. I have absolutely no problem shelling out $30 for a single eyeshadow but ask me about my indecision when purchasing this brush and I’ll tell you that the sale’s girl that sold it to me had to pry the money from my hands.

I haven’t seen an official review on this brush so I feel all special and stuff that I’m writing a long, babbling post about this brush because it deserves at least that for the price!

I’m not going to say it sucks. That would be too harsh of me. I am going to be very good about this and point out it’s flaws and point out it’s good features and all that jazz.

What is it and what’s it promise?

It promises to reduce dry skin patches, oily areas, blemishes, and get six times more makeup off your face! Take that! It also minimizes pore size, fine lines, and wrinkles appear smaller too! I’m generally curious about how wrinkles can appear smaller but hey that’s what it says on the Sephora description and who the hell am I to argue right? Although I think they maybe mean fade wrinkles?

I don’t have fine liners or wrinkles and my pores aren’t huge so I can’t really say whether this actually helped any!

Dry patches? No, those are still there.

Oily areas? It’s getting warm out and my oily areas are definately still there!

Blemishes? Don’t have much of a problem with any acne or blemishes so unsure if this works well at clearing those up!

Ok, so far we are off to a smashing start aren’t we? Everything it’s promised isn’t working for me!

After getting this home the first day I purchased it I was tempted to rip open the box with my teeth in excitement but I settled for setting it down and pushing it away while I washed my face as I do normally or you can call it manually if you so please, with my own two hands. I decided this would be an effective test to see how well the brush would be cleaning my skin!

After washing my face with Philosophy Purity and doing what I call a spot check with Witch Hazel it turns out my face was whistling it was so clean. I simply washed my face as normal and after drying off with a towel I soaked a cotton square in Witch Hazel, smoothed it on my face, and looked at the cotton square. No makeup remained. I decided to do so again with Lancome Bi-Facil and again the cotton square came back clean!

My bright idea to compare the brush cleaning to my hand cleaning had failed. It appears my cleanser was already doing a mighty good job by itself! But I wasn’t swayed! I just knew that the brush would work at making my moisturizer and other face products “sink” in better! My skin would be smoother and more polished once I used this daily! Yes, indeed it would!

Nope.

No, it wouldn’t.

Hello? Am I using it wrong?

I think it’s basically goof proof that you obviously know you can’t do full makeup removal with the brush. I normally remove everything on my face with my normal cleanser prior to using the brush as an EXTRA step. So now I’m actually adding time to my skincare regime (as if it wasn’t long enough).

The cycle:

Remove Eye Makeup with oil based remover.
Cleanse with Purity.
Rinse.
Squirt a bit of Purity onto brush and go to town for two minutes.

The time I spend doing all this boggles my little brain. I decided, after two weeks of use, that maybe I’d do the brush twice a day! If I used it in the shower in the morning plus in the evening it was sure to produce some dramatic effects.

Yea. Sure it did.

Not.

Maybe I need to use it a bit longer to see the ultra dramatic results it promises? It’s been almost two months since I got it and I am not noticing any difference in my skin at all. My products (moisturizer, foundation, etc…) do not work better or “sink” in better. My oily and dry areas are still very much there. I don’t feel polished or smoother thanks to this.

Honestly, the only thing I feel like is I’m wasting two minutes (4 minutes if you could the fact I use the bloody thing twice a day!) a day and I’m $200 broker!

Ok, so I guess this is where I’m supposed to say good things about the brush right? This is the hard part.

Well….mmmm…you get two brush heads with your purchase….that’s good right?

Did I mention that this thing is huge? It takes up some serious room on my bathroom vanity! I hate the clunky feeling of the recharging base as well! I wish they’d give an option to use either the recharger or batteries.

Fact is I’m seriously just a hater at this point. I don’t see the point of this. It’s expensive and it makes ridiculous claims. My skin doesn’t feel any better than when I originally began using it. I’m so sorry to the lovers…I can’t love it. I’m trying really hard though! Honest! My relationship with the brush is still a work in progress and I hope I’ll come back one day and post a brand new review where I am raving about the benefits of giving $200 to Clarisonic!

Fact is…if I were you…I’d stick to my hands and a good cleanser! Works just the same, if not better!

Clarisonic should stick to making toothbrushes.

If all else fails and you really want it maybe write a fan mail to Oprah begging her to send you one! It’s one of her “favorite things” after all!

As per a lovely reader’s request here is a simple FOTD using Dior’s New Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Beige Lurex which was introduced with the Summer Collection. Click here to read more about the Dior Summer Collection and what I hauled from it!

What I Used:

Face
Aromaleigh Rocks! Mineral Blush Powder in SundayGirl

Eyes
Beaute de Kose Star Twinkle Cream Eyeshadow in GD 073
Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner
Visee Volumizing Mascara

Lips
Dior Addict Ultra Gloss Reflect in Beige Lurex

Philosophy is banging out it’s Summer Collection with some seriously cool items this year! Not only are they doing the normal batch of Three in One Shower Gels, Lip Gelees, Kits, Etc…but they are also extending their skin care department with two new editions!

Check it out:

Surfer Girl Exfoliating Shower Gel $20 USD and Surfer Girl Lipshine $10 USD

Both of these are tropical scented (and flavored as far as the lipgloss goes!) to prepare you for the Summer beach weather ahead! Surfer Girl Exfoliating Shower Gel looks promising for prepping your dry skin after a long Winter indoors and Surfer Girl Lipshine sounds tropically yummie for giving your lips a bit of shine!

Philosophy Surfer Girl Gift Set $35 USD

Includes Surfer Girl Lipshine, Surfer Girl Exfoliating Shower Gel, and Surfer Girl Shimmering Body Lotion!

Philosophy’s Tiki Hut Gift Set $35 USD

Although the coconut line has been introduced before I’m still appreciating the awesome new Tiki packaging!

Coconut Body Scrub $25 USD, Coconut Body Butter $25 USD, Coconut Three in One Shower Gel $16 USD, and Coconut Lip Shine $10 USD

Never Let them See Me Shine Cleanser $20 USD and Never Let Them See Me Shiner Primer $20 USD

Since my skin likes to play oily in the Summer it appears these two items may help! Never Let Them See You Shine Cleanser is a deep cleaning cleanser that controls oil and shine! Since I’m currently on the look out for a good primer I wouldn’t mind trying out the new Never Let Them See Me Shine Mattifying Primer!

All in all the Summer selections from Philosophy appear quite good and I’m sure I’ll picking up some for review! Check back soon to hear my thoughts!

Discover my love for some of Philosophy’s awesome line by clicking through some of the posts below!

Happy Reading!

Here my rave for Philosophy’s Three in One Shower Gel Bubbly by clicking here!

Click here to read my review on Philosophy’s Microdelivery Wash!

Click here to read my review on Philosophy’s Pink Lemonade Collection!

My very sweet reader and friend, Wendy, created some killer videos with her Dior Collection! She’s such a cutie I was utterly enthralled listening to her dutch accent (my x-boyfriend was dutch and had a similarly awesome accent!).

Do click here and have a visit with Wendy at her site Why Me Sweetie! Her blog is a fun read and I especially enjoyed viewing her Dior Collection!

Anyone for a trip to the Nederlands? Maybe if we are extra nice Wendy will let us pet and caress her Dior palettes (try not to drool on them!).

Whatta ya think?

Cheers Wendy! Gorgeous Collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This had been posted a long, long time ago but I get daily comments and emails asking me about my makeup collection and how I store it, organize it, etc….

If you click here you can visit my original post from a year ago to see various photos of my collection and how I store items and such!

And below you can watch some MuseTV on my storage solutions and such!

Enjoy!

There’s a part five somewhere but I can’t find it at the moment hehe! Will updated the post when I do!

Some more Mutiny Pigment!

I can’t help it! I love this color

What I Used:

Eyes
MAC Pigment in Mutiny
Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadow in Peace
Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadow in Electric
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Covet
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Electric
MAC Dual Ended Pencil in Black Funk/Pop Blue
MAC Shade Stick in Lucky Jade
Majorca Majolica Mascara

Face
Shu Uemura Blush in P Red 19D

Lips
MAC DazzleGlass in Glamour O.D.

Benefit Posietint is available now from Benefit!

After blogging about this in my prior post I noticed that Benefit had updated it’s site with this new cheek stain!

It looks promising, very, very promising. I’ve ordered mine so expect a review shortly from me!

This appears to be a creamy tint or at least that’s what the bottle and swatches look like! I’m looking forward to trying this and I’m hoping for a winner from Benefit!

We shall see!

Click here to enjoy the very first images, swatches, and pictures of this exciting tint life and in he flesh (Just click “more” to see the pictures, swatches, etc….)!

Stay tuned for my review!

Enjoy my ravings for Benefit Thrrob Powder by clicking here!

Read my review of woes for Benefit Erase Paste by clicking here!

Team Sugar has an article up about Benefit’s newest stain that will be available shortly from Sephora. The new stain is entitled Posietint and appears to be pinker as opposed to Benetint which is a bit redder in color.

Someone else blogged this and I’m completely befuddled where I originally read it! If you blogged it do give a yell so I can credit your entry here!

This looks fabulous. Even though I’ve lost my love for Benetint lately (I’ve found stains that are much more pigmented than Benetint) I can’t help but be excited about this particularly stain!

Maybe we finally have a winner from Benefit?

Cross your fingers and await the Muse’s review because I’ll be all over it as soon as it’s released!

Too Faced is celebrating 10 glamorous years of makeup with it’s Summer 2008 Collection. I’d have thought that an anniversary of 10 years would warrant a bit of a better collection than this but there are a few interesting items you might be interesting in!

Decade of Glamour Kit $40 USD

Weighting in at $40 USD the Decade of Glamour Kit gets props from me for being cute but let’s face the facts, it’s a mess waiting to happen. I seen the kit at my local Sephora and it’s adorable but everything is embedded into a cardboard style palette which opens and closes with flap covers. Another words using the powder, glosses, etc…will make for a messy situation once you close the flaps if you’re not careful! There are detachable items in the kit such as a mascara and lip injection Adorable, yes. Conventional, no.

The kit includes:
6 Eyeshadows
2 Lipsticks
2 Lipglosses
1 Bronzing Powder
1 Blush Duo
1 Lash Injection Mascara
1 Lip Injection
1 Beauty Balm

Mineral Water Eye Brightener $18 USD

This caught my eye. I’m always looking for ways to refresh my eye area and make me look awake! I have a review ready to post for this shortly!

Single Eyeshadow $16 USD

Not sure why but they are re’pimping single eyes shadows….um ok?

Blotting Sheets $12 USD

I don’t think these are new either but I’m unsure and I’m not spending $12 bucks on blotting paper anyway!

Tanning Bed in a Tube $21.50 USD

And finally in extension to their body tanner they have introduced a bronze cream tanner for the face!

I think I can safely skip it all! Aside from the Mineral Water (see my entry below for a review on this) which I was tempted by and purchased. As for the rest it looks sadly lacking!

How about you?

Love it?

Not into it?

Tell the Muse!

Too Faced has a new eye pencil out and available with it’s Summer Collection. The pencil is entitled Mineral Water and is basically a dupe to Benefit’s Eye Bright Pencil.

I picked this up on a whim because my concealer tends to wear off towards the end of the day and this promises to refresh and brighten my eye area up. Benefit’s Eye Bright promises the same thing however the Too Faced version says it’ll also de-puff and improve firmness and elasticity. The de-puff action totally sold me as my eyes have been suffering from puffiness for a while now sadly!

Well..

It doesn’t live up too all it claims that’s for sure.

This is actually made up of 35% mineral water and promises to feel refreshing and cooling on the eye area. I was thinking with that much water content in the product that it would be extremely moisturizing and easy to blend. Not the case. After swiping under my eyes with it I didn’t feel much of a cooling feeling and blending was the typical heartache of tugging around a bit to get it all smoothed out.

De-puffing? Naaa that claim definately is false. I experienced nothing in the ways of de-puffing my eyes.

Now the color of this is a nude/beige which is supposed to be flattering on most skin tones but if you want to be realistic this is definately not going to work if you’re tanned, medium, or dark. It’s mostly geared towards a fairer skin type or medium fair.

When all is said and done I’d say that this is probably a nice item to have around for a quick touch up and go. It’s tiny and fits nice and compact in your purse. It’s not a messy liquid and a few swipes from the pencil does indeed cover up tired eyes.

Is it worth the $18 USD price tag? I’m not sure. I like the fact that it’s easy for touching up but it definately doesn’t live up to the hype of de-puffing, improving firmness, making me appear like I had 8 hours of sleep, etc….

This one isn’t Muse Approved for purchase but it is interesting to say the very least and maybe something you want to try out for yourself!

Want it?

Tried it?

Love it?

Tell the Muse !

Not sure I completely love this as the blending came out awful since Mutiny isn’t finely milled but I had fun with it and I guess that’s what counts!

What I Used:

Eyes:
MAC Pigment in Mutiny
Urban Decay 24/7 Eye Pencil in Electric
T’estimo Frame Impact Eyes Palette in 02
Majorca Majolica Mascara

Lips:
MAC Dazzleglass in Love Alert

Face:
Jill Stuart Blush in Aurora Rose
MAC Pro Blush in Salsa Rose
T’estimo Loose Powder Blush in WT-04

Click here to view my other Dazzleglass and Naughty Nautical Combo!

Click here to view my FOTD using Submarine and Bell-Bottom Blue!

Unbelievable. I just read about this on Risser’s blog and I was absolutely gobsmacked. It appears that a few fake Jill Stuart Palettes have popped up on a yahoo auction. The seller appears to be in Hong Kong.

One of my original Jill Stuart Palettes:

Amazing how alike these look right? Even down to the plastic cover sheet! Wow. Just wow. It was pointed out that the only thing missing from the fakes is the Jill Stuart logo on the bottom right hand corner of the open palette! If you see my photo and compare it to the fakes you’ll notice the logo is missing! Interesting.

I’m absolutely astounded.

Can you believe this?

I can’t help but look at the palettes and think how great the color combos are though hehe! I’m awful aren’t I?

Honestly, the boxes and compact looks freaking awesome for a fake don’t they!?

You can read some rants about this seller by clicking here.

But seriously this is just fascinating. The things people do!

So beware kiddies when bidding on auctions from another country! I bid on abroad auctions all the time so this might be an eye opener for me!

Thanks to Risser for keeping us in the know! Risser explains in her post that it’s common for MAC and Bobbi Brown to pop up with counterfeit items but it’s not everyday you see Jill Stuart being duped like this!

This is rather sad for people who are new to the brand, not knowing the color selection and buying these blindfolded and being screwed over! Very sad!

Looking rough today. Sorry! Bit tired but really wanted to share a DazzleGlass FOTD!

P.S. Click the image for a larger view of the picture so you can see the beauty that is DazzleGlass (and excuse my brows they are a mess and need a pluck *blush*)!

What I Used:

Eyes
Maquillage Mascara
MAC Pigment in Lovely Lily
MAC Pigment in Lark About
MAC Eyeshadow in Illegal Cargo
MAC Dual Ended Eye Pencil in Fab Orchid/Dash Lily

Lips:
MAC DazzleGlass in Date Night

Face
MAC Pro Blush in Full Fuschia

I know, I know. You’re probably tired of my babblings about Pop lately but I can’t help myself they have come out with some truly awesome items lately.

What started out as a few palettes for the eyes has turned into an entire line up of fantastic palette after palette after palette releases that are such a steal!

The newest palette entitled Smokey Rose combines not only a ton of eyeshadows but also gloss and blush this time around! Sweet!

The Muse likey a palette with tons of goodies that covers my entire face! The convenience of a do it all palette thrills me to absolute pieces!

So, What’s the scoop? What do I get?

Let me tell you……..

You get 12 Eyeshadows, 4 Cheek Colors, 2 Lip Colors, and One Dual Ended Brush for $42 USD! That, my dear girls, is a steal in my humblest.

You’d pay close to $35 USD anyway for six shadows or so in a palette! This gives you eyeshadows plus cheek colors plus lip colors plus a brush..what more could you possibly want?!

Shadow Selection

Blush Selection

Lip Color Selection

If you’re on a bit of a budget this is a great palette as it offers so much variety for a small cost. If you’re a no nonsense type of girl that doesn’t like stashing large quantities of cosmetics this would be for you as it has a healthy selection of goodies stowed away in a cute checkbook style wallet!

The shades in the wallet range from darker to medium to lighter. Lighter can be used as a highbrow highlighter or as an all over color wash for prepping the eye area while the darker shades can be used to smoke your eye out or to use as a liner and finally the medium shades can be used on the lid.

You can get very creative with the palette and create dozens of looks!

The blushes range from bronzey to pink and lighter to darker. You can use the darker shades to contour the face and the brighter colors on your cheek bones! The lip colors included are a deep shade of cranberry stain and a lighter glossier pink. The stain gives the appearance of just bitten lips while the glossier nude pink looks gorgeous on top for a bit of shine!

Tips and Trixs for Application:

• Use any of the 4 darker shades as eyeliners to line and define the shape of your eye!
• Apply a medium tuned color onto lid and blend into crease to create a gorgeous look!
• Apply a nude cheek color all over the cheekbone and a pink color on the apples of the cheek only!
• Stain lips with the cranberry stain and dot pastel pink in the middle of the top and bottom lip for a plumper, fuller lip look!

The Muse is loving Pop lately and thinks the newest Smokey Rose Palette is definately gorgeous! The packaging is a gorgeous snap close, faux croc purple wallet with a loop for holding the brush inside. Easy storage! Easy for toting around in your purse!

Pop’s Smokey Rose Palette is most definately Muse Approved for purchase! It’s pigmented, it has a large selection of gorgeous goodies, it’s compact, it comes with it’s own brush….yup, it’s definately Muse Approved!

It’s Mother’s Day soon maybe grab one for your Mum and yourself while you’re at it!

Click to visit Sephora and purchase your Smokey Rose Palette! The Smokey Rose Palette is available exclusively to Sephora and is Limited Edition so grab it while you can!

Click here to read my review on Pop’s Day to Play Palette!

Click here to read my review on Pop’s Rose Belle Blush Palette!

Click here to read my ravings for the Pop Eye Cake!

It’s starting to warm up here in New York. It’s not quite humid yet nor is it sweltering hot but it’s warm enough to make my normally dry skin take on a tinge of oily!

My forehead suffers most in the Summer and becomes a fun mirror of shine and oil!

Never fear, Lush is here to save the day!

When the weather warms up and I know my skin will begin it’s descent into the depths of oily hell I turn to Lush Tea Tree Water to clear up my skin and make it matte and normal once again!

I spritz this on in the AM prior to my normal moisturizer and it mops up excess oil and preps my skin for my moisturizer! When I take off my makeup for the night I spritz it on again prior to my night cream! It keeps me oil free for about 5-6 hours depending on how hot it is and how long I’m outside! You can of course tote it around for fresh ups but I wouldn’t recommend using it on a made up face! I never have to worry about this drying out my face the way normal toners do as it’s 100% Alcohol Free which makes it gentle on my skin and not tight feeling after spraying on!

If you happen to suffer from acne this is a wonderfully refreshing toner for detoxing your clogged pores and not drying out your skin! I personally use it on my T-Zone during warmer days when oil rears it’s ugly head!

The smell is refreshing and it doesn’t sting the way some toners tend too!

For me it’s an absolute “must have item” for the long, hot Summer ahead!

Good-bye oily skin! Hello, Gorgeous!

Lush Tea Tree Water is most definately Muse Approved for purchase!

Love Lush?

Use this already?

Tell the Muse!

Click here to learn more about my Lush Skincare Regime!

Click here to learn how to clarify your hair using Lush’s Haircare line!

Click here to read a review on Lush’s Solid Perfumes!

Click here to read my review on Lush’s Limited Edition Shower Gel, Ghost!