Rusk Thermal Str8 Protective Flat Iron Spray Review

Don't buy this product. 

This one.

Don't buy it. 

I've been trying heat protectant sprays for the last few months. They can be great for protecting your hair from heat damage from hair dryers, flat irons and curling wands, and some can also protect your hair from damaging UV rays, which is particularly good if you colour your hair. In addition, they can add shine, fight frizz and help your hair hold its style.

According to the Rusk website the Thermal Str8 Protective Flat Iron Spray is a humidity-resistant styling spray that penetrates hair, infusing conditioning and controlling agents like argan oil and Thermplex to seal the cuticle, eliminate frizz, precent curl reversion, and protect styles from environmental elements. Conditions and protects the hair internally and externally while smoothing and enhancing shine. 

This product is designed just to protect your hair from using a flat iron, not from using a hair dryer, and that seems a bit odd, since usually you need to use a hair dryer before using a flat iron, unless you have time to let your hair air dry after washing it. But the Str8 Protective Flat Iron Spray needs to be used on dry hair because it's incredibly sticky. Holding the can 6-8 inches from your hair is the recommended application technique and in doing so, presumably the amount you end up with on your hair is the correct amount. 

I tried a few times and each time, the spray went on heavily, coating my hair with stickiness. I used a brush to comb it through, both to make sure it was on evenly and to try to minimize the stickiness. I thought perhaps the texture of my hair would improve after I used my flat iron, but that was not the case. Running the flat iron over one section of hair after applying the spray created a shiny, smooth, but stiff and crispy piece of hair. I ran my brush through it and this softened the stiffness considerably, making my hair look like actual hair again, but the brush dragged through my hair. The stickiness did not go away, even with repeated brushing. 

On the plus side, it did make my hair shiny and added to the straightening effect. I assume that it protected my hair as well, since it seemed to form a seal around my hair with the application of the heat from the flat iron. But the incredible stickiness is horrible and does not go away. Running my fingers through my hair throughout the day resulted in snags and tangles. I guess if no one, including you, touches your hair after you've used this, it's all good, but who wants hair like that? There's a stiffness and a frizz at the ends of my hair as well after using this spray. 

I was shocked how terrible this product performs. Especially since there are multiple heat protectant products that perform beautifully. 

This one, TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray is a favourite and it can often be found for sale. I picked up a bottle for $4 recently.

There's no added weight, but it leaves my hair silky, glossy and soft. The lock button on the pump is a nice feature too.

This one too - L'Oreal's Color Radiance Dual Protect Spray - is often on sale. Drugstore brands FTW! It protects your hair from styling tool heat as well as from UV rays, which is great if you colour your hair. 

For me, it's a runner-up to the TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray, but it's a solid project and I don't hesitate to recommend this one as well to you.

Just trust me on the Rusk stuff. Don't be tempted. It's appallingly bad stuff.

Grade: F

C.

A Purple and Red Eye-popping FOTD (for glasses-wearers)

One of my favourite eye make-up looks is to wear one (at least) shade on my eyelid and another along my lower lashline. Here's a version I've worn a few times to work lately. 

I've been wearing glasses to work since last year, and it's still unsettling for me. I still don't recognize myself and I still struggle to come up with eye makeup looks. My eyesight is poor meaning my glasses are a strong prescription so my eyes look smaller when I'm wearing them, and because I can't see well without them, putting eye makeup on can be difficult. Liquid/gel eyeliner, for example, is impossible to do properly on my left eye when I'm not wearing my contact lenses. I try to find looks that are simple, flattering and help make my eyes stand out behind my glasses.

Anyway, enough complaining and more about the point of this post. This is a colourful but wearable, simple look that make my eyes pop from behind glasses or not.

Here are some close-ups of my eyes.

The products I used for my base are Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in N115 all over my face, with MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW20 under my eyes as well as on any areas that needed more coverage. I set it all with a combination of Ben Nye Neutral Set and Pari Mineral Glow. My eyes are primed with Art Deco Eyeshadow Base. Even though this stuff does not work on me, I keep trying just in case it might someday because I hate wasting product. I do find that it does allow whatever eyeshadow you apply on top of it be true, in that it gives it a base to adhere to and in doing so, it's exactly the colour it is in the container. What it fails at is keeping it from creasing. In the photo two above, you can see some fading in my eyeshadow crease. I applied (the amazing) Anastasia Dipbrow in Auburn through my brows to fill them in, give them shape, and to alter the colour to match my hair colour better. 

On my eyes I applied MAC's Heritage Rouge (dirty brown plum) pigment to my eyelids, starting in the inner corner, working across the lid and up into my crease blending it out towards my browbone. I also carried it out into a winged shape on the outside of my eyes.

I kept applying it until I got the effect I wanted. Along my lower lashline, I smudged L'Oreal Paris Infallible in Purple Obsession. The more I blended, the less purple it looked, so I kept adding and blending until I got both a soft, smudged effect and the colour I wanted. 

For some more definition along my lashline, I smudged MAC's Embark eyeshadow, a warm matte reddish-brown colour that adds a touch of definition but doesn't compete with either the Heritage Rouge or the Purple Obsession.

I curled my lashes and applied lots of Givenchy Noir Couture Volume Mascara in Black Taffeta.

On my cheeks I applied a combination of MAC's Stunner and Warmth of Coral blushes to give my skin some colour and to keep it soft so it didn't compete with my eyes.

And for a final touch, I dusted my skin all over with Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused Light, which gives the skin a light glow, and blurs imperfections. 

On my lips, I'm wearing just a sheer lip balm. It's not that I wouldn't and don't wear a lip colour with this look, though I do (usually a MLBB shade). My lips have been chapped and dry lately and lip balm is about the only thing I can wear on them. 

And there you have it - my colourful, my-eyes-are-still-here-behind-these-glasses, fun and simple.

- C.

Beauty Squared Round-Up: April 6, 2014

Hello lovelies! Happy Sunday! Is it spring where you are? SO MUCH to share with you today. Let's get started.

• Remember how Adele looked at the 2013 Grammy Awards? MUA Nina Westbury has a step-by-step guide on how to achieve her gorgeous retro look. Click here. 
• L'Oreal has hair chalk now - you can achieve unicorn hair without the commitment. Check out Tracy from Beauty Reflection's review here.
• From the temporary to the classic, do you know if the products you are using are from a brand that's been around since 1937 or earlier? Check this list here to find out!
• Beauty Geeks takes a look at Dior's New Vernis Gel Shine shades. Swoon!
• New and improved Make Up For Ever's High Definition Blushes, including the shade used on Christina Hendricks on Mad Men (#210). See them here. 
• Speaking of Mad Men, let's look at the beauty looks from the Season 7 (the last season - sob!) premiere red carpet - Elizabeth Moss, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, Alison Brie, and Jessica Paré. 
• Eyebrows are so important. Bad brows are just...bad. Good brows deserve a hallelujah. Want proof - look at these celebs with both bad brows and good brows. 
• Five rules for contouring and highlighting in a step-by-step guide. 
• In news that should surprise few, the gorgeous Lupita Nyong'o has been named as Lancome's spokesperson, making her the first black ambassador for the brand. The first half of that sentence makes me happy, the second half, not so much. Seriously, it's 2014, and Nyong'o is the FIRST black ambassador for Lancome?
• A visual history of the cat eye.
• Well this is a makeup trick I'd never heard of before - shower eyeliner. To read more, click here. 
• New Zealand singer Lorde tweeted this week about a photo of herself that had been photoshopped to give her perfect skin, alongside a photo taken the same day that hadn't been retouched, and adding "Remember flaws are OK." Hear, hear, Lorde!
• David Horne's The Art of Male Makeup looks like something I need to own. 
• Singer Ingrid Michaelson's video for her very catchy song, Girls Chase Boys, is an homage to Robert Palmer's iconic Addicted To Love video, but with a twist. Sexy girls AND boys (in makeup)!  
• (Also check out Ingrid's Blood Brothers video which features her being made over into John Lennon, Lady Gaga, Marilyn Monroe, David Bowie and Amy Winehouse among others.)

L'Oreal Paris Magic Nude Liquid Powder Bare Skin Perfecting Makeup Review, Swatches and Photos

L'Oreal Paris Magic Nude Liquid Powder Bare Skin Perfecting Makeup (phew!) is a liquid foundation that dries to a power-like finish. It's incredibly light and is meant to give a natural, bare skin appearance. 

Oddly, the European and US versions of this foundation have an SPF of 18 but the bottle I picked up has none. The active sunscreen ingredient in the US version, Octinoxate, is not listed in the ingredients on my bottle. There's no SPF mention on the label either, which is disappointing. Canadians need sunscreen just as much as Americans and Europeans, don't we? The sun shines here too.

The foundation comes in a rectangular glass bottle with a screw-off lid. You get 0.91 fl. oz. which is less than most foundations, which come in 1.0 fl. oz. It costs $18.99 CDN, which is more expensive than most other drugstore brand foundations, so that you get less for a higher price is a disappointment. 

The formula of the Magic Nude foundation is nearly identical to that of Giorgio Armani's Maestro Foundation, which is much more expensive ($75 CDN). It's also very similar to Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation ($64 CDN), also much more expensive. You can see my review of the Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation here. 

The shade I selected (312 Classic Ivory) was the second lightest shade available at the drugstore I bought it at. There are 12 shades available though, which is an impressive selection, especially for a drugstore brand. 

The consistency of Magic Nude is very thin and very fluid. As in, more so than any other foundation I have tried. You have to be careful when opening it because it's so thin and liquid because it moves very quickly. In the photo below, I pressed the bottle into the back of my hand and inverted it. I had to keep my hand flat and steady to keep it in place.

L'Oreal Paris Magic Nude Liquid Powder Bare Skin Perfecting Makeup in Classic Ivory on NW15 skintone.

The instructions are to shake the foundation well, and invert the bottle with your finger over it. Use the product on your fingertip and blend into your skin, using your fingers, and not a brush or a sponge. 

L'Oreal Paris Magic Nude Liquid Powder Bare Skin Perfecting Makeup in Classic Ivory on NW15 skintone.

I tried applying it both ways and I definitely got a better finish with my fingers than when I used a brush. It actually took longer with a brush, as I had to buff it and buff it to get an even finish. With my fingers it just smoothed right into and over my skin.

There isn't much scent to the Magic Nude at all, and a little goes a long way since it's so very thin. The finish once it has set on my skin has a texture very similar to powder in both feel and in appearance. While it looks powdery, it doesn't read flat. The natural glow of my skin comes through.

I typically prefer a dewier finish to my foundation, and while Magic Nude is very thin and natural-looking, I don't like the way it clings to the fine hair on my face (visible on the lower half of my cheek, close to my jawline). I didn't however need to powder it except along my T-zone. 

I found that the wear time of this is pretty average. I need to blot and powder typically by midday when I wear my usual BB cream, and it was the same for Magic Nude. As the day went on, the pink and oiliness of my T-zone increasingly came through as it typically does, though on my cheeks where my skin is less prone to oiliness, the powdery texture maintained. 

This is a great foundation for it's price and it's quality. If you like a slightly matte, but natural finish, this is a great option. Magic Nude is available where L'Oreal products are sold, though depending on your skintone, the range of shades may be limiting. 

I wish it contained an SPF as the American and European versions do. That any foundations/BB creams are sold without SPF today is seriously disappointing. That's why, despite its good qualities (cost, texture), I'm giving it a C grade. It also loses points for being a smaller size for a higher price. 

Grade: C+

Beauty Squared Round-Up - November 17, 2013

Hello lovelies! It's time again for the weekly Beauty Squared Round-Up. This week has quite a bit of interesting, helpful and exciting links for you, so let's not delay any longer...

• First up, Jennifer Lawrence. I have a big, old girl crush on this gal. She cut her hair off into a great pixie cut and is experimenting with new looks (as I think we all do when we change up our hair dramatically). Check out this dramatic, vampy look that we haven't seen her do before. Thoughts? 
• Speaking of drama, here's a way of getting a bit into your daytime makeup look - the daytime smoky eye. 
• You've heard of food trucks, now what about a Lip Bar Truck? 
• Do you have naturally curly/wavy hair? The Hand Dry Hair Glove may change your life.
• Apart from comments like "She needs bangs like she needs air in her lungs" this is a cool, quick, simple makeover, done in an elevator. Also, it shows you how to curl your hair with a flat iron.
• Plastic surgery trends in Venezuela are changing the appearance of mannequins. Now they're being built with enormous breasts, very narrow waists and exaggerated rears.
• Benefit Cosmetics has a build-your-own makeup kit, just in time for Christmas!
• This list is entirely subjective, but here are seven beauty products you can (probably) skip completely. 
• Adele has reportedly turned down a £12 million offer to be the UK ambassador of L'Oreal. 
• And finally, check out this incredible aging and rebirth transformation, done entirely with make-up.

LOreal Spring 2013 Preview - Telescopic Shocking Extensions

New from L'Oreal for Spring 2013 is their Telescopic Shocking Extensions Mascara. Here's what they have to say about it:

Even good girls can be a little shocking! The newest spokesperson for L'Oreal Paris, none other than the fabulous Lea Michele, creates distractingly long lashes with Telescopic Shocking Extensions mascara. Our lash-hugging brush is ergonomically shaped to fit the contour of the eye line to define every single lash - even the smallest ones. Containing 200 bristles, it captures them lash-by-lash to create incredibly long, perfectly defined lashes. The next-generation lengthening formula coats and lengthens lashes from root-to-tip for truly shocking lash length. Available in both regular and waterproof formulas, the look of lash extensions is now just one mascara away.

Suggested retail price: $12.99

I have it in Blackest Black. 

Here's the 200 bristle brush without any product on it (it comes packaged separately from the tube of mascara). 

And here is it with product on it. 

Here is Telescopic Shocking Extensions Mascara on my lashes (top lashes only). It most definitely gives a lot of length and the brush's flexibility allows to get at (presumably) every lash. The flexibility of the brush throws me off a little. It's almost too flexible. If your lashes can push it around, wow, that's flimsy, right? It's effective but I don't like it. It takes a little getting used to and may make you more prone to eyelid mascara blotches.

And Telescope Shocking Extensions Mascara does a good job of lengthening but there's no thickening whatsoever. It does what it says though, gives good length. My lashes are pretty long on their own, so I prefer a mascara that gives me some fullness. With Shocking Extensions I feel like my lashes look pretty natural, not like I'm wearing extensions. They're on the anemic side.

You'll like this mascara if you want a very long, soft, fluttery lash look and don't need or don't want any additional fullness. You'll also like this mascara if you have full lashes and want to add a bit of length. 

I'll wear this mascara on days when I'm going for a very natural look.

Grade: B

L'Oreal Spring 2013 Preview - Colour Riche Eyeshadow Quads Review, Swatches and Photos

Continuing on with the previews of the new L'Oreal products we received at the L'Oreal Preview event, here are three of the new Colour Riche Eyeshadow Quads. 

For the first time, the world's colour authority bursts into the world of eye colour. Colour Riche Eyeshadow Quads are four expertly harmonized colours in a single irresistible golden case. Each one is made up of micro-milled pigments to create an irreplaceable silk texture on skin. The secret of the smooth, layerable colour? Powder pigments are suspended in a crystal-clear base that ensures the colour stays incredibly rich and smooth - never chalky or powdery. Featuring 20 quads with colours ranging from beautiful beiges and taupes to daring blues and purples to ultra-feminine pinks and greys, this is the secret to unforgettable eye impact. 

Suggested retail price: $11.99

Each palette holds four eye shadow colours, all roughly the same size and placed in the order of application as indicated on the back of each package. Each comes with a small dual-end sponge applicator. A sticker on the back indicates the placement of each colour on the eye:

1. First colour: All over the eyelid.
2. Second colour: Browbone.
3. Third colour: Crease.
4. Fourth colour: Lashline.

Here is the Cookies & Cream quad, a collection with sparkly charcoal, silver, grey and frosty white. 

Note: When I first received the quads, some of the eyeshadow pans, specifically the top two (in the photo above, the two on the left) were wobbly. 

A week or so later, I noticed that in the Cookies & Cream quad, those pans had dislodged completely and were rattling around inside the quad. There was no evident damage to the eyeshadows themselves however. 

Perhaps these were sample palettes given out for PR purposes and the actual quads you'll be able to buy in stores will be better quality.

Here are the four Cookies & Cream shadows swatched. Pigmentation and texture were inconsistent among the four colours, as you can see below. The white brow and the silver crease colours had the most pigmentation and the creamiest texture. The grey lid shade has less shimmer, as does the dark black/grey lashline colour. It's great to see that not all shades are the same texture, particularly for a drugstore brand, since they tend to offer only very sparkly and very shimmery eyeshadow options.

A word on the texture. As claimed, the texture is creamy and silky and pleasant to work with overall. Because of the softness and silkiness, there is a lot of mess generated when applying it. Starting with a small amount of product will help to prevent this. 

Following the instructions on the packaging, here it is on me. Although the instructions don't indicate putting any product beneath the eye, I opted to use the crease colour there.

This silvery smoky eye look would be good for an evening look but this was my least favourite of the three quads. I wish the crease shade had more depth and less shimmer. Layering the black under the crease colour would probably make this look work much better. 

Grade: C

Here is the Good Luck Charm quad, a combination of colours that make me think of Neopolitan ice cream - browns, cream and pink. 

Like the previous quad, this too had two shades more creamy and shimmery than the others. In this the pink lid colour and the vanilla browbone highlight colour have a lot of shimmer. The warm caramel shade and the chocolate shade have less.

This look is the most soft and natural of the three quads. While the brow shade is very frosty, the rest of it is very wearable and flattering. This quad is lovely and warm and suited well for all eye shades. I would use a different highlight product though. This one is too white and too shimmery for the rest of the quad. I used the dark brown liner shade under my eyes although it wasn't in the instructions for application.

Grade: A

Finally, here is the Sophisticated Angel quad. I also quite liked this combination of taupe, champagne, purple and grey.  

Here's a photo that shows some of the mess created by pulling the applicator through the eyeshadow pan.

Here are the swatches. This quad has three shadows with a similar texture with the dark grey being a little flatter.

Here it is applied. The highlighter shadow in this quad is much less intense than the other two. I really like the purple and taupe shades but as you can see, the dark liner shade was difficult to blend. I prefer a softer eyeliner line. 

Grade: A-

L'Oreal Spring 2013 Preview - Visible Lift Blush in Nude Life Review, Swatches and Photos

L'Oreal's Visible Life Cream Blush is new for 2013 (available in January). Suggested retail price is $16.99 CDN.

"Creating a beautiful, health and youthful flush, the new Visible Lift colour Blush recreates volume to uplift and bring cheekbones out of hiding. Featuring Tourmaline, one of nature's most naturally energizing minerals, the newest member to the Visible Lift family of products for mature skin, adds radiance and luminosity back to aging skin. Its lightweight powder in a creamy texture never settles into fine lines. A hint of shimmer gives skin a youthful glow. It has zero talc and zero wax - just rich colour pigments in six different shades to offer a glowing, healthy flush."

The shade I had to try out is called Nude Lift and is a soft golden pink with gold sparkle and shimmer. The texture is a cream that dries to a powder finish on the skin. There's a great deal of luminousness to the blush and it applies very nicely with the fingers or a brush.

The colour is a golden pink on the skin. It's an easy colour to wear and suits my cool skintone and would work well on lighter, warm toned skin. It's quite sheer so it's best for lighter skintones. On darker skintones it'd work best as a highlighter.

Nude Lift swatched on NW15 skintone

Here is is on my cheeks, layered fairly heavily. It gives me a nice, golden, almost sunkissed flush. It's very natural and easy to wear. 

Texture-wise, it's a light cream and goes on smoothly on moisturized skin (I'm wearing Garnier BB cream underneath). Since it has a shimmer and skin-like sheen to it, it can be left alone or topped with a translucent powder or another blush colour if you need a little more colour to your cheeks.

Like many drugstore brands, there isn't a lot of pigment to this blush. There's about three layers of it on my cheeks in the photos below. If your skin is fair, like mine, or you want a very natural blush, this is recommended.

As I don't have any fine lines or wrinkles on my cheeks, I can't vouch for it's not settling into them on me. I can see this working well for women who do have wrinkles. Creams tend to work much better on  lines and wrinkles and it gives the skin a dewy flush, something that the skin naturally loses as we age.

The blush lasted quite well on my cheeks, I'd say roughly 6 hours. With a powder blush on top and a primer underneath it'd last even longer, I bet. 

This is an alright blush, although I'd call it more of a highlighter since it's got more sheen than pigment. Perhaps the other colours have more pigment. For the same price or a little more, you can find better highlighters and better blushes.

Grade: B

L'Oreal Spring 2013 Preview - Colour Riche Caresse Shine Stain Lipcolour Review and Photos

I attended L'Oreal's Spring 2013 Preview recently and received three of their new Colour Riche Caresse Shine Stain Lipcolours in my take home bag.

Caresse Shine Stain Lipcolours have a hybrid formula made up of 30% water combined with light shine oils for a shiny kiss of colour with a subtly sensuous wet look. They retail for about $12.99 CDN each and come in 12 shades. They will be in stores in January 2013.

The three shades I received were Pink Resistance, Lilac Ever After and Eternally Nude. All very subtle, muted shades. Great for a natural hint of colour on the lips.

The bottoms of the tubes are where the wands are, unlike your typical lipgloss tube. The applicators themselves are different than any I'd seen before. They're like broader deerfoot applicators or more like a shovel. I'm not sure what the reason is for this. I found it a little challenging to apply the product with these applicators. It's something I would get used to and I imagine someone with fuller lips might appreciate a wider applicator surface.

The scent of these bothered me a little. I am not a fan of overly perfumed products but these struck me as smelling a bit chemically. Products for your lips should have an appealing scent, I think.

Pink Resistance looks like a bubble gum pink on the wand and in the tube but it's a more subtle, natural pink on my skin and on my lips. It has a hint of sparkle to it and has an interesting consistency. If I hadn't read the product information, I would've though that this was a very light gloss.

On my lips, it more or less disappears in my natural lip colour. It evens out the natural tone of my lips and adds a hint of sparkle and shine. 

For Ever Lilac is a light purple in the tube and on the wand and slightly plum-toned on my skin and on my lips. Again, it's a very subtle hint of colour on my lips. It looks natural. There's also that subtle, very pretty sheen and a touch of sparkle. I liked this shade the best of the three I received.

Eternally Nude looks like caramel and has the least amount of sparkle of the three I received. It is also very natural, very sheer and very subtle.

I didn't love these. I wasn't a big fan of the applicator, the scent or the effect. They stained very, very softly so if you have a lot of natural pigment to your lips this won't do a lot to change it. If you're looking for a lip product that gives a hint of colour and subtle sheen, you might want to check these out but a lip balm with a bit of colour to it will give you a similar effect AND provide your lips with moisture.

Grade: C

C.