So it’s been established I’m a bit of a Bobbi Brown fan girl. Bobbi is like my makeup goddess and maven but I gotta tell you I thought she was plum loco when she suggested in a makeup tutorial video that setting your concealer with a bright white powder was a good thing. I’m of an age where placing powder under my eyes is so not a good idea. My eyes are dry, they sport fine lines, and in the AM hello puffiness how are you today? Adding powder into that mix of things is just a bad idea. After picking up my HG (holy grail) Bobbi Brown Concealer palette a year or so which indeed included a fine white powder my mind switches from thinking bad, murderous things about powder to thinking how glorious it is.

I learned over the course of a year that a simple dusting of white powder is effective at concealing dark circles, lightening up my eye area, sets concealer to last all day, adds a soft focus to fine lines (virtually erasing them), and makes my bags disappear like magic.

Impressive right?

Recently, I reviewed the Mally Concealer System for you which actually came with a white powder included. Obviously Bobbi isn’t the only smart cookie around here as Mally choose to include an entire compact filled with white powder to pair up with her creamy concealer.

I’ll tell you who else knows the benefits of white powder, Taiwanese Make Up Artist, Kevin from Kevin Beautymaker cosmetics.

Click ahead to hear a review of Kevin Beautymaker Bright Eye Pressed Powder.

Kevin takes the idea of white powder to a new level as his version is sold separate from his concealer compact plus it’s nearly 85% cheaper than anything else you’ll find on the market today. Benefit, Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown, and Mally are the only lines I’ve seen that carry fine white powder that works at brightening up the under eye area, there may be more but I haven’t really seen too many brands using the idea.

Fact is it works.

If you’re younger you can appreciate this to brighten up your eye area a fair bit after concealer is in place. I personally wouldn’t use it alone as it works best when your eyes are completely concealed using your regular potion of choice. It adds a certain airbrushed quality to the under eye area and erases certain flaws such as dark circles. If you’re older you can appreciate this much, much more as puffy eyes, fine lines, dark circles, and other woes will be magically erased when this is used with concealer.

It’s basically a very simple, matte powder. Nothing crazy or dramatic. Who knew simple white powder could do so very much? Kevin’s version comes in a cute slide out box with a decent size powder brush for application. Honestly, not loving the brush it comes with as it picks up way too much product and blends it terribly. I highly suggest using some sort of bushy blending brush for application. Use a small amount and build up as needed but please don’t overdo it as you will be looking like Casper the friendly ghost if you’re not careful.

Kevin Beautymaker Bright Eye Pressed Powder is not my favorite by any means as the formula isn’t quite as silky as other powders I’ve tried however it is the cheapest option available and very, very good quality for the price. I only paid a few dollars for this however I’ve seen it on several stores for $14.99 and upwards. That’s of course nearly 60-65% higher than retail. At that price I do think it’s worthy of a try if you’ve never considered trying to set your concealer with a powder before or you’re simply intrigued to see how white powder can improve your overall eye look.

Overall, the moral of this story is white powder is sometimes a good thing. It took me a very long time to realize that but it’s now become a staple item that I use daily. Just as I would apply foundation, concealer, etc…everyday, white powder also gets included along with my prep and prime routine.

3 Comments

Before there was MAC Prep and Prime Transparent Finishing Powder, before Make Up For Ever HD Powder, there was Dior Diorskin Extreme Fix. In the Spring of 2008 Dior quietly released this interesting little powder as a Nordies Exclusive. It quickly became the must have item in the makeup world but has since disappeared from shelves within the US. If you look really hard you’ll probably come across this but I’ve only seen it in Europe and Asia as a general catalog item as part of the Dior standard collection.

Jump ahead for a peep at this powder and a review.

I’ve had this powder since February 2008 and it’s taken me this long to get down to the nitty gritty of reviewing it.

What is it?

A long lasting setting powder for foundation. It’s the same concept as many HD transparent powders you see on the market today. The powder has a silicon base which is supposed to bullet proof foundation and make it last longer. Question, of course, does it work?

I’d like to discuss the formula briefly prior to getting into further details. I will say that the powder is superior to other transparent powders on the market today. It’s very silky and has a certain thickness about it I haven’t seen in powder before. It smooths onto skin beautifully, doesn’t leave a behind a white cast, and is a breathable layer of foundation protection. Although white in color for the most part the powder is transparent once applied.

As of late I forgo foundations in favor of BB creams for the most part. I find BB creams do not need to be set prior with powder as they last considerably longer than any cream or liquid foundation I already have. Even with my normal foundation routine I normally forgo powder since my skin is typically dry and an extra layer of powder flakes up, looks cakey, or just ages my skin. Diorskin Extreme Fix is very lightweight so it absorbs fairly easily without caking or flaking. I haven’t really noticed it extending the wear of my foundation but than again not many products do (even really good primer). However, I will say I like the airbrushed finish the powder gives my face. If you have fine lines, uneven skin tone, or just need a powder that gives an ethereal glow to your skin this does just that.

Overall, I’m happy to have added it to my collection but I do admit I don’t use it much. You can probably find a cheap alternative but if you’re a Dior fan I imagine you’ll want to add it to your collection. I will say out of all my transparent powders this is a favorite and I feel the formula is considerably better than any I’ve tried prior to this that are available in the US (not speaking for the Asian beauty market).

All in all it’s a very nice powder and I really should utilize it more as maybe I’ll fall in love with it as that has yet to happen.

Anyone a fan?

Have it in your beauty train case?

Love it?

Tell the Muse!

2 Comments

I expressed my delight over the brand new Urban Decay Lipstick for Fall 2009 in Naked in a review recently. Naked is such a flattering shade of nude pink that will pair up beautifully well with a dramatic eye look or in my case a pink look!

Jump ahead for a peep!

For my look below I used a bit of Jill Stuart blush, Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eye Shadow in Ballet, and Urban Decay Lipstick in Naked topped with a clear gloss from Philosophy. The look is fairly simple and innocent. As you can see Naked pairs up very nicely with a no nonsense, less than dramatic eye look but it’ll go along just as well with a bolder look that requires a nude lip look that won’t take away from the eyes. I’m normally not one for loving nude shades of lipstick but I fell in love with Naked almost instantly on swatch. It’s one the most flattering shades of nude pink I’ve come across and doesn’t have a mod look but more of a dewy finish that makes my lips look very natural.

By the way my fresh skin can be blamed on Skin79 BB Cream!

What do you think?

Lover of Urban Decay Naked Lipstick?

Tell it!

4 Comments

Morning loves!

How is everyone today? Looking forward to the weekend I hope. Looks like more bloody rain…why oh why are my weekends plagued by rain?

I just wanted touch base and say I have gotten such lovely comments lately so thank you very much. I’m about a week or more behind on comments sadly. I’m not ignoring you but I just haven’t had a sec to post and reply to them. Please forgive me. I sometimes find it difficult juggling life, blogging, and work lately so posting normally comes first and comments get a secondary place in my time line of things to do. But please know I’ll get to each one very soon and reply personally.

If you left one already and it was posted and never replied to it that would mean I lost track, sorry! Feel free to leave it again and I’ll happily reply! As for ones not yet posted I’ll be moderating them shortly and replying to each and every one.

Thank you for making all my hard work worth it. Comments are a huge payment back to me as I know what you are loving and of course I adore discussing makeup, life, or anything really with each of you!

Have a great day!

Look out for new posts coming shortly.

P.S. Is Musings loading slow for anyone today? Seems a tad slow for me. Must look into that!

Add a Comment

Matte is a difficult medium to work with and not one I’m fond of. I admire those who can work with matte shades and create gorgeous looks because honestly I stink at it. If matte is your game you must be over the moon that Illamasqua has made it’s way across the pond and now resides at Sephora.com and Sephora Times Square.

Jump ahead for my first impressions and review of a few Illamasqua Eye Shadows I got to test out this week!

I’ve read a few reviews comparing Illamasqua to MAC but for myself personally I think they are considerably different brands. Packaging, pigmentation, and price are a just a few things that set Illamasqua apart from MAC.

For the most part my adventures in Illamasqua Eye Shadow has so far been a tad on the disappointing side since I’m not a matte girl. The formula of the shadows is weak in pigmentation and a tad on the chalky side. I haven’t applied on my eye as of yet but so far they prove difficult to blend just on my arm. The swatches I did take had to be built up with several swipes. I did take note that wet or applied with a base they seem brighter and more intense but without they aren’t anywhere in the same vicinity as the pigmentation of a MAC eye shadow. Colors appear buildable which redeems the fact that at first swatch you aren’t going to jump up and down in delight at how pigmented the eye shadow is. I tried two shadows out so far which were Moan and CanCan. Moan is an olive green and CanCan is a pretty violet.

I did enjoy the interesting, unique packaging. It’s a square cut curved design that’s quite chic. This is 2g of eyeshadow for $20 where as MAC is 1.5g and $14.50. Obviously, the design isn’t only larger than a standard MAC shadow but it actually proves to hold more product. Remember looks can be deceiving sometimes and packaging can appear large but not contain a large amount of product but these prove to in fact hold a bit more shadow.

So far I can’t say that Illamasqua would replace MAC for me. I expected more for the price tag and was a tad shocked I wasn’t doing cartwheels around the room as it’s been very hyped up by makeup lovers far and wide so I did think I’d fit right into that groove. I do have to try these on my eye before making my final decision. So far I’m not too impressed but I will reserve judgment as I plan on purchasing a few of the shimmer finishes for myself because my current review could be a bit bias since matte really isn’t my medium of choice and I don’t have the skills to work with it.

So far Illamasqua won’t take over MAC for me as the price is higher and the pigmentation so far isn’t nearly as up to par. But we shall see….I need to explore and test further. If matte is your finish of choice you’ll be thrilled with a majority of the offerings from the line. In a sea of shadows dominated by various finishes, matte is a unique offering in the makeup world especially a collection of cosmetics that caters to such a finish.

Have you tried Illamasqua Eye Shadow?

Do you love them?

Tell the Muse!

5 Comments