Ellis Faas for War Child T Shirt

Sadly prescient in these times is the Make Up Not War slogan on these new T shirts from Ellis Faas for War Child.

Until the end of October Faas' Make Up Not War program is raising money for the War Child organization.  These new Tees are fair wear, made from organic cotton and come in three styles and  sizes  .

Ellis Faas will donate all net proceeds ( a minimum of €5  for each sold)  to War Child. 

Also , they  are donating €1 to War Child for each product  sold  via ELLISFAAS.com between now and October 31. To encourage  raising as much money as possible, they are also waiving the shipping costs during this period. This is a great chance to try or stock up on some of their fantastic products .  Particular favorites of mine are The Lights Eyecolor - pigment, shine and sparkle and they absolutely never budge . 

There are three types of shirts:
* shirt 1: unisex tank top
* shirt 2: women’s short sleeve boatneck t-shirt
* shirt 3: men’s short sleeve crew neck t-shirt

 All available in sizes S/M/L.

Prices are €15,00 / £12,50 / US$16.50

Cover Fx Custom Blot Drops- Oil Control

T- Zone help on the way courtesy of Cover Fx.

Like their previous "drops" the new Custom Drops Oil Control can be added to anything to make it more matte and help control oil along or use it alone.

The  gel goes into foundation, BB or sunscreen easily . Used alone it makes  a good base under makeup to absorb oil. It has a soft, matte feel and doesn't make skin feel tight.

Using this I noticed that I didn't seem quite as shiny on my nose and chin as usual by lunchtime. At first I  thought, I  just didn't need much  powder today before realizing I had used this in the morning. I try a lot of mattifiers, some work better than others and this is one of them. I  especially like that I can add it to other products. My others are mainly stand alones.

It does say that this can be used as a touch up over makeup also but I haven't tried using it that way yet.


Ingredients include salicylic acid, Cucumber extract , papaya fruit  and chamomile extract .

Cover Fx Custom Blot Drops are $44

MUA/Makeup Academy Under Eye Illuminator & Pro Makeup Correcting Pen

MUA Cosmetics has some nice new to tuck away in the makeup bag and keep you looking good without breaking the budget.

Their new Under Eye Illuminator is a  doe foot wand under eye concealer/brightener. It's light  coverage in a light/medium neutral shade. This is creamy, glides onto eye area easily and blends easily as well. It's a basic  but one done well. It has light diffusing pigments and added just a little boost to  my under eye  and  also felt really comfortable on.  No shimmer or even a sheen, it's subtle but has been nice for early AM. ( $9)

Pro Makeup Correcting Pen looks like the ones we've used before to correct around nails but it's for face.  The tips are a little hard to don't get too pushy with it but it does work . I smudge those large wands mascaras on my eye area way too often. This cleans it up quickly . It  picks up fall from eyeshadow and can be used for mid- day touch ups. ($7)

MUA MAkeup Academy is available exclusively at CVS.

NARS Pygar & Stud - Hardwired Eyeshadow Collection

Super metallic shadows from NARS make up the LE Hardwired Shadow Collection.

All the shades are pretty fab but I picked Stud and Pygar. Both have very full pigment, go on smoothly and blend like a dream.

Stud is a medium pewter with a touch of bronze and Pygar is a rich gold. Both give a lot of look . These do have a lot of sparkle with larger particles in them, although Stud has slightly less Pygar.   I could say they are a great evening look ( and they are) but I wore Pygar to the office Friday morning and you might too.

NARS Hardwired Eyeshadow Collection has six shades and are $28 each , exclusive to Sephora.

Maybelline Brow Precise Micro Pencil

 Maybelline seems to always be one of the only brands that make eyebrow pencils that work for me. Oddly almost all that I try make my brows super dark even if it's a blonder shade and I have light auburn brows.  It's weird . Years ago their Master Shape pencil in Auburn was a perfect match and now with new Brow Precise  Micro Pencil we get great color with easy to use super skinny point.

This reminds me of a far more expensive brand's skinny tip. Now you can grab the look for less. Brow Precise has a self sharpening tiny, skinny pencil. It's great for getting into brows and almost drawing hair into them. It adds plenty of pigment but can be done very subtle or gone over for  a bolder look.

I have here Auburn and Blonde, it also comes in Soft Brown and Deep Brown.

Also new for brows over at Maybelline is the online Brow Studio. Access it via  phone or desktop with no app needed @Maybelline.com/browplay

Maybelline Brow Precise Micro Pencil is available now for $ 7.99

Kérastase Elixir Ultime Indulgent Oil Solid Serum

A little pot of gold, that's what Kerastase's Elixir Ultime Solid Serum  is.

This 0.6 oz jar with the gold lid contains a deeply moisturizing balm laden with 15 oils ( including sunflower seed, olive fruit, sweet almond and apricot seed) to  to tame frizz,  dry ends , flyaways or  apply anywhere your hairs needs some TLC.

According  to the brand this is the first-ever versatile oil serum in a solid form. That of course makes it not only look nice on your vanity and take up a small space, it's great for travel, whether a day trip to a local beach or a longer jaunt. It tucks into a bag easily.

It's also not super greasy despite all the oils, It works into hair well and moisturizes without leaving hair lanky. After you warm it up a bit between fingers, it glides right into hair and has a light woodsy floral fragrance.


Kérastase Elixir Ultime Indulgent Oil Serum Solide is $45, Available at Kerastase-USA.com and Kérastase Salons

Maybelline Graffiti Nudes Palette

This new Graffiti Nudes Palette from Maybelline is set for an August release at Ulta. 

The palette is $ 11.99 and has 12 shades in both matte and shimmer .

Hair Food- Hair Milk Collection

 Hair Food by Clairol is a  haircare line I'd been wanting to try more of.

Previously I'd only tried the Moisturizing Hair Mask deep conditioner  and I really liked it.  It did a great job on my dry areas, easily comparable to some higher end products. 

Now  there's  a new shampoo/conditioner  duo to help smooth and hydrate hair - Hair Milk.  It's Summer, we need that. My hair doesn't frizz a lot but when the dewpoint hits 70, which it does often here,  even  I get the frizzies and pouf. 

This a medium thick  shampoo and conditioner that  made my hair soft and easy to manage but not heavily conditioned.  It doesn't weigh hair down and adds light volume .  For driest hair you'll need a deeper conditioner  and /or  a leave in ( I use a leave in all the time) but overall I'm  really liking this for my normal to slightly dry hair.  My hair was a little smoother and controlled without being flat or blah and it has jasmine and  vanilla for a light, pretty scent .

There are no parabens ,sulfates or dyes in them so they work for all hair including color treated.

 Hair Food- Hair Milk Collection  come in large  17.9 oz pump bottles and are $9.99 each at Target. 

Dove Purely Pampering Sweet Cream & Peony

How Sweet It Is, Sweet Cream, the newest scent from Dove in time to soothe Summer parched skin.

Sweet Cream is a mix of vanilla and peony. Lightly floral and not strong, it's a soft, pretty scent that's just enough. Especially nice at night when you want to wind down and relax.

It comes in a Nutrium moisture filled body wash along with bar soap. I don't have to tell you how soothing this line is to skin. It's always in  use over here.

Dove Purely Pampering Sweet Cream & Peony Body Wash is $ 6.99
Dove Purely Pampering Sweet Cream & Peony  Bar Soap is $ 3.79 for a twin pack.

MAC Vamplify- With Gusto & Anything But Demure

Seven new shades of MAC's fabulous liquid lipcolor, Vamplify are out along with old favorites. Some give bold a new meaning like the turquoise blue shade , others are very wearable, if a bit more daring then I , or you, might usually wear.

Anything But Demure is called a mauve nude  and that's very much what it is. Dusky and more mauve than nude it's going to be a great color for Fall when we break out the deep charcoal and burgundy  clothes and coats. It will pop against denim too, I think.

With Gusto is is called deep plum and it's very deep with a bit of dark brown in there. This is dark but if you can pull it off , it'll make a top shelf statement lip. It does apply a little patchy where Anything But Demure goes on full coverage.

MAC Vamplify  is available now at $ 14 each.

YSL Beauty Engraving

A personally engraved lipstick? Sign me up. YSL Beauty is offering free engraving on lipstick, fragrance and more.  And you know they have amaze lippies. Rouge Volupte Shine is my personal fav.

You can have anything engraved, not just your name, but a special date,  phrase etc. What a fabulous gift and if any of you are getting married this Summer, there's your perfect bridesmaid present.

Head over to  yslbeautyus.com for more info .

Organix Travel Size Shampoo/Conditioner

With summer  here it's  travel time be it quick trips over a weekend to longer jaunts. Travel sizes  are a must especially on those quicker trips when packing   light  is most important . 

I had no idea Organix made these cute travel sizes.   Simple  enough to toss this shamp/conditioner combo in the over night bag. Or keep them handy for a rinse out after a day at the beach or pool before cocktail hour. 

These 3 oz bottles come in many of the Organix varieties at $2.99 each.

 Organix  trial/travel sizes are wherever the brand is sold including Ulta and Target.

By Terry Line Designer Waterproof Eyeliner Graphic Precision Tattoo Print

My eye makeup melt is epic, I've mentioned that more than few times , right ? So many products said to be waterproof,  wear in the ocean while a wave tumbles you , budge proof etc ,never make it long on me. Others have great results, me, I watch them go poof in hours.

By Terry's Line Designer Waterproof Eyeliner lives up to it's name that also includes , on the box,  Graphic Precision Tattoo Print.

This liquid liner went from 8AM to 8PM on my eyelids with just a little fading. For those of you whose eye makeup stays put, that's no big. For me, it's very big. No raccoon smudges to wipe off a couple times a day, no eyes that look like they were never lined in the first place by noon.

The applicator here is thin, tapered and stiff to make a fine line and is made from flexible foam. It goes on easily and dries pretty fast but can be blended some . The shade I have Brown Glaze is a shimmering bronze brown with medium pigment. I did need two coats to get as much color as I wanted , then again this is a not a deep dark shade. For my coloring however it's perfect. I wear a lot of browns, nudes and golds on a daily basis .

By Terry Line Designer Waterproof Eyeliner is $39 and available at b-glowing.com , beauty.com and bluemercury

NARS Consuming Red Velvet Matte Lip Pencil- Fall 2016

Fall is coming soon... at least in the retail world .   I may not be ready yet, nor you, but it provides lots of makeup eye candy as new collections roll out . 

NARS  has two new Velvet Matte  Lip Pencils as part of it's Powerfall line. Both are rich reds that lean more burgundy or wine.  Consuming Red  is called bordeaux by the brand and that fits . This is a type of red  I can actually wear ( bright reds really don't do much for me) and I love this color. It makes for a bold lip at full pigment  but with a little  blending  and a slick of clear lip balm becomes a pretty flushed, muted burgundy on lips and wears down to a stain.

Come Autumn I'll be wearing the heck out of this .  Alongside camel , grey or the new denim military style jacket I just picked up. 

NAR Consuming Red Velvet Matte Lip Pencil is $ 26. 

The other shade is Infatuated Red, described as garnet and that one is LE. 

NARS Powerfall will be on sale July 15th on NARS.com and boutiques, August 1 everywhere else. 

Chanel Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Colour - Fall 2016

Here's a Fall/Winter lip preview from Chanel. At the recent couture show new Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Colour went down the runway on the models. You can see a sneak peek in the one photo. 

The shade used is Amoureux along with Rouge Allure in Ingenue ( new this month and Natural Le Crayon Levres  lip pencil. 

Also coming July is the blush shown- Profund

Rouge Allure Ink Matte Liquid Lip Colour will be available in October. 



Photos: Benoît Peverelli

No Nonsense Summer Sport Socks

What is it about socks ? I love them  as much as any other accessory and  can easily spend  a lot of time in a store that sells just them when I stumble on one. (Anyone remember The Sock Shops in NYC eons ago? I never missed a chance to stop in).  Maybe because they're cute , easy, one size fits most?

No Nonsense can help fill the need and want for socks with a variety perfect for warmer temps and at a great price point.

The lightweight  Sleek "liners" are thin, a cotton blend . They're breathable, they've felt comfortable and dry all day long , and are a no show style for a leaner leg look. They are great with my tropical print sneakers I've been sporting this summer. The 3 pack has several colors to go with all your kicks.

For  a sportier look and feel the 3D Comfort are the way to go and while they   aren't super padded they have raised dots and lines inside for comfort while also being very soft with a low profile.

Breathe are a 3 pack of black low cuts that are unpadded but thicker than the liners above with a higher fit on the foot /ankle. These are super comfy with 77% cotton blend , a pique trim at top and a smooth feel /look on. 

Sleek X Sport Microfiber No Show $6.49 pack of 3

Breathe Black No Show 3 pack are 5.27 at Wal Mart, 6.50 at Amazon.

All are Made in USA