MAC Power Chrome Eye Pencils in Rich Glance & Polished Jet

One of the hot items within MAC's Temperature Rising collection are the new Power Chrome eye pencils.

I thought they'd be right up my alley and I was right. Metallic , shimmer, easy use- gimme.

These new pencils come in 4 shades and are much wider than eyeliner pencil and like what we  call a chubby pencil these days, but a bit thinner.

Power Chrome's have a lot of summer shimmer and pigment. They glide on easily with a somewhat creamy  finish but  are a slightly dry formula  and so far seem to last long. I haven't had a chance to test the wear all day but after about 6 hours through a damp day/evening  they've done well. For me that's very good.  The gold shade , Rich Glance is a pretty nude gold that wears well on it's own or with deeper shades.  Polished Jet is a deep black with shimmer .  Copper Strip ( mid- tone copper)  and Life's Luxury ( deep brone brown) round out the shades.

Size wise I do feel these could be a little bigger.  They are soft so will need sharpening often and they measure about 3 1/2 inches long. Other than that, I like them and want to see how the bronze looks in person.

MAC Power Chrome Eye Pencils are $ 21 and on sale May 23.

NARS Laguna Bronzer Blush Duo- Sephora Exclusives

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Laura Mercier La Petite Patisserie Candle Trio

Looking for a lovely Mother's Day gift ?   Check out this candle sampler set from Laura Mercier. Yes candles have been overdone as gifts, I know, but this is different- it comes with a travel candle holder.  A nice  luxe touch , right ?

The La Petite Patisserie set is LE and features three votive size candles, one each in Fresh Fig, Almond Coconut Milk, and Crème de Pistache. If you haven't smelled the Pistache yet, you are missing out.  It's delicious.  The set comes with the lidded  candle holder for travel or decor.

 $ 65 at www.lauramercier.com

Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser

I love cleansers, it's one of my favorite product category. Odd maybe, or not, but that's fine with me.   I recently tried Neutrogena's newest- Ultra Gentle.

Ultra Gentle Daily Cleanser is a foaming gel cleanser .  The foam here is light, you won't be awash in foam and it rinses clean.  It got my skin clean with no  tightness and left it feeling  soft. The cleanser is lightly scented.

Neutrogena says this patented formula is good  for sensitive skins and protects the moisture barrier of skin  while removing " 99 %  of excess oil, dirt and even makeup ".

I think  it will work for all skin types except the most oily. Right now my skin is normal to oily and  this works. When it's super oily in Summer I'll need something stronger. 

If you want to try it without the $$ commitment, Neutrogena is giving away free samples and coupons , while they last. 

Visit www.ultragentle.com and take the Ultra Gentle Cleanser Challenge.  If you are one of the first 5,000 people to sign up, you will receive a free sample .

I took the cute and fun challenge , and the above image  shows my results .

Me, Twitter and Allure

This month's ( May) issue of Allure once again has featured one of my tweets. I had no idea they were using it so it was a nice surprise. I don't know how many people read the mail pages , I almost always do, but take a look. You never know who you might see there.

The article I reference is from the March issue and was a history of MAC with James Gager. It brought back memories and reminded me why I love MAC  so much.

Thanks Allure.

Bliss Fuzz Off Hair Remover

Ready to Fuzz Off ? Bliss wants to help you do just that on that not so nice hair over your lip, or on your chin.

Fuzz Off is an easy to use depilatory that best of all, has almost no odor. So no stink right under your nose when  trying to remove hair. There is a 2 sided applicator, one to apply, one side to scrape off hair, and it works in as little as  3 minutes.

I don't have  dark upper lip hair or too much of it but there is some and this did do as it said, a fast job of  removal with little odor. It was easy, I only applied one thin layer  and my skin felt super soft after use which took just under 3 minutes. If you have a lot of hair , I think you would need a little more time but still not very long.

Bliss Fuzz Off is $ 24 for a 15ml tube and available now at www.blissworld.com    Sephora 


 Bliss is also having a fun Instagram contest- Send in your best creative  'stache pic to @Bliss_Spa and tag with #fuzzoff.  50 winners will get a full size tube of Fuzz Off and grand prize winner will grab a $ 250 GC for Bliss Spa.

 

Revlon Lash Potion by Grow Luscious Mascara

 With it's colorful,  fun 80s vibe tube, Revlon debuts new Lash Potion mascara.

Lash Potion by Grow Luscious is is said to help volumize and lengthen with the wand they call "Illusionist " along with proteins. It also contains lash conditioners .

I got a good bit of length but only a little volume. I  like the  brush,  it does a nice job of getting to the lashes and is a  good size but not a too large, jumbo size.   I had no clump issues even with several coats . I feel you need  at least 2 coats for best look but I'll say that about most mascaras. One coat is a your lashes but  better.

The formula is not too wet or dry, a little thick and at first  few uses needs dragging along the tube to remove excess.

Lash Potion by Grow Luscious is due out in May  and will be $ 7.99

 There are 2 regular colors- Blackest Black and Blackened Brown along with 2 waterproof shades in the same colors.

Emma Stone was out in Times Sq this afternoon to promote the kickoff. Note the billboard says  Lash Potion is now at Walgreens.

MAC PowerChrome Eye Pencils- Temperature Rising- Summer 2013

These eye pencils appear to  be new and I like the look of them a lot. Remember, me and metallic have a love thing. They look larger than an eye pencil  and are  part of the new Summer collection, Temperature Rising  , they should be on counter May 23rd .

Powerchrome Eye Pencil-

Rich Glance -light gold
Copper Strip -frosty mid-tone copper
Life’s Luxury -deep bronze brown
Polished Jet- charcoal with pearl

 $21.00 US/$25.00 CDN

L'Occitane Spring Cherry- Ceriser aux Papillons

 It's Cherry Blossom time, or maybe a bit past  for the actual flowers but not for fragrances. L'Occitane debuts their Cherry Blossom Spring Cherry fragrance.

The scent is  soft and  petal fresh.   Cherry Blossom scents  are usually light fragrances,  and this is no exception. It's  airy,  and has hints of fruit  with mandarin and  blackcurrant , but is not a super sweet perfume. Magnolia adds white florals along with the Cherry Blossom . It dries down close to the skin and is perfect for anytime wear .

Spring Cherry also makes a great starter fragrance for a young  girl who wants to  wear perfume .

You can find this scent in soap, body lotion and shower gel as well. 

$ 42 for 1.7 oz EDT , LE  www.usa.loccitane.com

Earth Day Beauty

Earth Day is today as no doubt you've heard. Yes, we will be inudated with articles etc. from many places but it's always worth the time to look at some products that are nice to Mother Nature and us.

There are a lot of beauty products available and many more natural ones than ever. We've come a long way from the days of soaps that smelled like herbs crushed under tires.  Now you can be eco -friendly with a high end look/ feel and quality to match. Here are a few of my  top picks.

Urban Decay-  Their top notch Good Karma brushes are all vegan, made from recycled PET bottles with recycled aluminum handles.  Also, each comes in a magnetic box made from recycled egg cartons.  12 brush types to choose from.

Avalon Organics-  I'd used their  shampoo years ago, pre-blogging and was recently  reminded how good they were . Their Lavender Nourishing shampoo and conditioner is now NSF certified with 70 % organic ingredients. It's  great for hair with no parabens, sulfates, or phthalates but you don't sacrifice good hair by going organic. My hair is light, full of body and clean after use. Packaging is 100% post consumer resin materials.   Natural foods stores or www.avalonorganics.com

Apivita - I'd heard of this Greek , holistic company,  but hasn't yet tried it until last week. I am enjoying testing many  of their products. All products have between 80-100 % natural ingredients including 100 % pure essential oils as well as many bee originated ingredients like propolis and honey.   Winners so far include Euphoria body wash and lotion which smells to me a  bit like tuberose, but is jasmine and white tea and Lip Care with Blackcurrant, a lightly tinted lip moisturizer. www.apivita.com/usa

Aubrey Organics -  One of my fav SPFs of last summer,  with physical blockers and antioxidants . You can read that review here.

Lavanila- They call themselves The Healthy Fragrance. If you are looking for a fragrance that is more natural but don't want to just use oils ,  this line comprised of oils and botanicals along with alcohol sourced from organic sugar cane  is worth a look . New is Fresh Vanilla Lemon scent, perfect for summer with it's bright blend of lemon citrus with a hint of  vanilla . Also comes in their natural deodorant. 
 Find it at  Sephora
 
Also for Earth Day Lavanila will plant two tree for every: new order on Lavanila.com, "Like" on their Facebook page , new Twitter follower and new Instagram follower all the rest of the month.

* This post contains some products sent for review. Opinions are all my own.

Dior DiorSnow BB Eye Sunscreen Cream

 

It's a BB everywhere these days . That's mainly a good thing as many are quite good and make a big difference. Now the BB is moving to specific areas with Dior DiorSnow BB for Eyes.  Do you need an eye BB ? Well, you might.

Dior's eye BB is a concealer and eye treatment with SPF 20 and that's what makes it  different. You can get one or maybe two of these in one eye product but rarely all three. You can find ( a few) eye creams with SPF  and you can find a few concealers with SPF  . Dior adds in Icelandic Glacial Water Technology , the formula of which is trademarked by them . We all know Iceland has very pure water,  Dior says it is completely free of pollution, how much it makes a difference here I can't say but that what's the Dior Snow line is built upon along with TEC , Dior's trademarked brightening complex.

With this you  get a cream with  medium coverage under the eye and  it does instantly smooth  things out  a bit. It's lightly moisturizing , the driest of eyes might need more moisture, others should be ok.  It is also supposed to help with dark spots, circles and puffiness.  The sun protection is physical,  coming from Titanium Dioxide.

It can be worn on it's own or under makeup and it sets  fast for makeup application.  Shade shown is 020 and works well on my somewhat pale under eye area.

I like it simply because I'm for anything that protects my eye area from the sun. If it can conceal a little as well, all the better. The whole idea of a BB is multitasking and this is that but for eyes.   I do wish it were a bigger size , at .20 oz/6ml it is a small tube but you don't need a lot of product to do the job.


The Dior Snow  BB Eye Sunscreen Cream   is $ 49.

Chanel Summer 2013- L’été Papillons Des Chanel

 A quick look at the new Chanel Summer 2013 line- L’été Papillons Des Chanel including a new product- Stylo Eyeshadow and three new nail polishes.

STYLO EYESHADOW Fresh Effect Eyeshadow-
A smooth-gliding pen applicator delivers a new lightweight, long-wear shadow that highlights eyes with gleaming colour. A cooling, water-infused formula creates a shimmering veil on lids — or precisely lines the eyes with perfect definition. In six playful shades, from light and soft to dark and metallic. $34.00 (Limited edition)

INIMITABLE WATERPROOF Mascara Multi-Dimensionnel-
Butterfly-inspired lashes flutter and flirt in four captivating shades: blue green, lime green, bright yellow and electric blue. $30.00

STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF Long-Lasting Eyeliner-
A new, intensely luminous turquoise-blue shade offers a whimsical complement to all of Summer’s vibrant shadows. $30.00

ROUGE COCO SHINE Hydrating Sheer Lipshine-
Lighthearted shades of natural peach and bright raspberry finish lips with a water-light shine. $34.00

LÈVRES SCINTILLANTES Glossimer -
Summer lips entice in high-shine shades of translucent raspberry, fresh mandarin and pearly beige. $29.50


LE VERNIS -
Shades:
Lilis (intense coral)
Azure (metallic blue green)
Bel-Argus (metallic blue)
$ 27

Dior Diorskin Nude Tan Paradise Duo- Coral Glow- Summer 2013

 Dior does it again. They have a way of bringing it each season. Summer's Bird of Paradise line  is no exception. I mentioned their entry in lip pencils with the new Lip Jellys and also part of the collection is new  Diorskin Nude  Tan Paradise  Blush/Bronzer Duo.

First up is the case in  the iconic Cannage pattern  and the  small, adorable silver kabuki brush that comes with it.

Then there are the colors. Coral Glow is a vivid coral blush . Bright in the compact the blush goes on lighter and blends well. I have 2 layers on my arm.   It's very wearable as is the bronzer which is a  medium shade and not too deep. It should be just enough for most. On me it gave me a tint of color but no overdone look. There is also little shimmer in the bronzer . The blush has light shimmer .You can wear them separately or swirled together.  Both are gorgeous in the pan and pretty nice on as well. I feel like I could be on the Riviera.  

The compact here is large , about 2  3/4 " diameter.

There are two shades of Paradise Duo- Coral Glow and Pink Glow. They are LE  and
$ 56 .