bb cream

Have you heard all the BUZZ about

a new product called

BB Cream.

It stands for Beauty Balm and

it is a utilitarian's dream come true!

It color balances your skin,

hydrates (more than the usual tinted moisturizers),

has SPF, is tinted with medium/full coverage,

and some boast they also serve as a primer.

phew!

That's a lot of stuff in one little tube.

My favorite is

Smashbox's Camera Ready $40 at Sephora.

But, I did a little testing and I compared with

Garnier BB Cream $12 at Target.

(Check next to the specialty skin care not the makeup isle)

It is the perfect summer makeup for dewy

natural glowing skin.

russian red

Russian Red is the MAC lipstick I used on Jess

in this "Parisian" shoot with Tonya Joy Photography.

Jess is wearing some of my top all time favorites:

Fleur Power blush by MAC

Russian Red lips

Eternal Black eyeshadow Infallible by L'Oreal

MAC's Fluidline in Blacktrack

and

The Messy High Bun

All these pictures were taken to promote Tonya's

upcoming Parisian themed photography workshop.

More details here if you are interested.

dirty dozen: the sequel

My "Dirty Dozen" was a post I did awhile back

about my favorite items that you can find at a typical drugstore.

This sequel steps it up by telling you my favorite beauty products

followed up by their comparable drugstore beauty buy.

All the research was done by yours truly, Mama Kat.

And, YES, I have tried all of them myself!

(I stand behind all of my recommendations and no one has paid me a penny for my opinion.)

In this never ending recession

a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do,

so here's a few ideas to cut beauty corners whithout

compramising on quality.

The FIRST beauty buy was L'Oreal Infallible 24 hour eyeshadow.

I just posted about this, but I had to include it.

I compare it with Chanel's Longwearing Luminous shadow

and you save almost $20 for a very similar quality product.

I even like L'oreal's dark brown better than the Chanel color!

Second is MAC's 213 brush,

my very favorite for laying on the eyeshadow,

verses the elf "C" brush.  And this pains me to say but

very similar product and the elf brush is only $3!

I'll take a few of those!

I've loved Estee Lauder Bronze Godess for years! 

Yet, I am finding it hard to justify the price, especially

 after I tried Jergens Natural Glow Healthy Complexion.

It has a little less pigment but I kinda like that.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair is an expensive luxury.

I've cut back and tried the Olay Regenerist Night Resurfacing.

I like it and Olay has a comparable product

but I am going back to Estee Lauder

as soon as I finish the Olay Regenerist bottle.

I just wanted a little more from Olay but it's great

for when your budget is a little tight.

I never suggest using a shampoo and conditioner

from the drugstore - NEVER!

But for the sake of research I tried the L'Oreal Sulfate Free

shampoo and condition.

I usually only use Pureology.  It is always sulfate free,

always color safe, and always clutch.

I will say, the L'Oreal Sulfate Free is pretty good,

especially the Keratin smoothing impressed me the most!

I love i.d. essentuals mineral blush in True!

I tried Revlon Colorstay Mineral Blush in Roseberry.

I'm happy to say the price was better and so is the "colorstay".

I also like that Revlon's blush is a pressed powder,

it's a lot less messy!

Pond's Cold Cream was a "game changer"!

I am never spending so much money to buy

Lancome's Bi-Facil makeup remover ever again!

Pond's is great to remove ALL my makeup and so hydrating!

Revitalash is so amazing and it's only purpose it to GROW

your eyelashes.  Revlon Grow Lucious Plumping is mascara

and stimulates growth.  Two in one!

I just tried Revlon's lipstick in Siren.

I love it and it reminds me of my MAC Vegas Volt,

but it's half the price and the color is so retro.

Philosophy's Microdelivery Peel kit is SO pricey,

and delivers great results.

Olay Regenerist Cleanse is so inexpensive,

and delivers great results.

You do the math :)

I tried this primer after Carmindy

(the creater and famous makeup artist)

explained that the ingredients in her drugstore primer are the same

as her department store competitors.

I looked up the ingredients and she is right!

I love primer and NEVER go without.

I would totally use the Sally Hansen Face Primer when

my Smashbox Photo Finish Primer is outside my budget.

Threading at the salon verses an at home hair removal

kit by Olay......

Not too bad but I think threading results have more longevity

than this Olay Hair Removal Duo.

If you don't like pain I highly suggest trying this kit.

I also think Olay's kit is WAY over priced for the

limited results it delivers.

Hopefully you find this helpful and

remember that just because you pay MORE for

a beauty product it doesn't always mean it's BETTER.

diva

Diva was the name of this dark berry lip color

I used for this shoot with Maria.

I have been dreaming about this shoot for awhile.

I saw Anne Hatheway's feature in Interview magazine

awhile back and fell in love with the dark romantic images.

Of course, Anne was wearing Chanel and Alexander Mcqueen,

but we made due with one of Maria's black corsets and

some black polka dot stocking I got at H+M.

Thank you to Kamee June

who took all the images and captured Maria, as Anne, so perfectly.

Enjoy!!