Beauty Squared Round-Up - December 16, 2012

It's nine days until Christmas! Need a break from the craziness? Check out this week's Beauty Squared Round-Up...

A festive red and gold nail tutorial from Sephora and butter LONDON.

A very simple, natural and sophisticated makeup look from the J. Mendel Spring/Summer 2013 show.

We've all done it. Spritzed ourselves with too much perfume and then tried desperately to de-stench. Here are some tips to get rid of that excess fragrance.

Here are some tips on contouring your face.

Particularly at this time of the year, makeup counters can be tough to navigate. Here are some tips for make-up artists and salespeople AND customers that can help make it much easier and more satisfying for everyone. 

Holiday season means parties and that means dressing up and looking festive. Here are some tips on how to get dolled up without overdoing it.

Make-up artist Lucky B offers her tips for making your holiday makeup last all night.

How to get flawless skin that won't look caked on.

Looking for eyeliner video tutorials? Beautylish has just about every one you need here.

L'Oreal Spring 2013 Preview Party Photos

Chocolate Shoe

Beauty Squared was invited to the L'Oreal Spring 2012 Preview Party in Toronto recently. It was at the uber-stylish Trump International Hotel and featured an incredible sweet table full of chocolate goodies as well as all of the products we can expect to see in the new year from L'Oreal! 

I snapped a few photos on my iPhone.

BB cream and skincare

Men's skincare

Skincare

Eyeshadows

Make-up

Chocolate lip lollipops

Crowding around the sweet table

L'Oreal didn't just have skincare, haircare and make-up to preview for all the beauty bloggers, they introduced us to The Colour Genius app (free).

Colour Genius App

Colour Genius App demo

How it works: 

• Take a photo of your outfit or use a photo you've got in your photo library.

• The app will give you a range of colours that you will then choose from to match the colours in your outfit, or that you just want to work with.

• Then you're given the option to Match It (sophisticated), Blend It (natural) or Clash It (bold). 
• The app also asks if you want a Day or Night look - again this can be literal or more suited to your preference (whether you want a softer or stronger look). 
• You're then given a selection of three L'Oreal products - typically a lip colour, an eyeshadow and a nail colour - depending on your choices. And there's your shopping list!

I received a take home bag of goodies which I'll review in a later post. Thank you to L'Oreal for inviting Beauty Squared and thank you for throwing a great party!

C.

LUSH Emotional Brilliance Believe Lip Colour Swatches and Review

I finally checked out Lush's new Emotional Brilliance cosmetics colours the other day. Walking into that store is something you either love or hate - anyone whose been to Lush knows what I mean! I didn't go through the colour selection process, but got to play with all of the colours. 

There are 30 shades in the Emotional Brilliance line - ranging from soft shimmery neutrals to bold blues, oranges and greens. Some are lip colours and come with doe foot applicators, some are eye colours and also come with the doe foot applicators, and there are two liner colours with liner brush applicators. The containers are what you might expect from unconventional Lush, and are unlike what you've probably seen in the makeup world before. The Emotional Brilliance line comes in small glass vials, like something you'd see in an old-fashioned pharmacy. Similar to the bottles of iodine you can get at the drugstore, each one comes with a dropper cap, although they're not usable in the Emotional Brilliance products. 

I swatched a bunch of the shades but settled on just one lip colour - Believe. I may go back and get Bubbly as well. 

Each bottle comes with a nametag, attached with a hair elastic, containing the product ingredients and basic usage instructions. 

Believe contains: Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Candelilla Wax (Euphorbia cerifera), Titanium Dioxide, Rose Wax (Rosa damascena), Mica, Tin Oxide, CI73360 among other things (info from the Lush website).

Tag and hair elastic

Believe is described as a raspberry ice-cream pink. It's got no iridescence to it (I was also looking at Bubbly while I was at Lush and that one's got a metallic sheen to it) although it's not matte. There's a definite sheen to it. 

Believe applicator

Since the brush is housed in the bottle, it's short. I was a little concerned since it's so much shorter than any other lip applicator I've used, but it's actually pretty easy to use. The bottle itself is about the size of a standard lipstick tube, only thicker. 

The consistency of the product is thicker (especially compared to the eye colours I was also swatching) allowing for more accurate application. 

It was difficult to get a good photo of the swatch since my camera didn't have much to focus on, but hopefully the following photos give you an idea of what the colour is. 

And here it is on me. I'm a huge fan of a bright lip, so Believe was irresistible to me. The photo make it look more orangey-red (on my computer screen at least) than raspberry pink.

Here is Believe swatched next to MAC's Love Goddess (from the Marilyn Monroe collection). They're different colours - Love Goddess is a blue-pink and Believe is red-purple - but the texture is similar as is the punch of colour. Bold lip colours FTW!

L-R: MAC Love Goddess, Lush Believe

The texture of Believe on my lips is quite dry and smooth but not drying. It doesn't quite feel like a lipstick - it's not tacky or sticky or slick at all. It wore well too, as it's almost a stain as compared to a lipstick. The dryness of it allows it to adhere to the skin better. I'd say it lasted 4-5 hours before I needed to reapply. My lips never felt dry or in need of lip balm. Believe was very comfortable to wear.

You don't need to use a lot of Believe, a tiny dab is enough for at least half of my lips, so one bottle will last a long time. I won't be able to use it all before it dries out or is past its expiration date (Lush products don't contain the chemicals regular make-up products do so they don't last as long as you

In the photo of me above, I'm also wearing it as a cheek colour. I applied a dab to the apples of my cheeks and blended it out. Believe can be applied as intensely as I did in the photo above, but it also can be dabbed on for a soft lip effect. 

I really like the look and feel of Believe. The packaging takes a little getting used to, but it looks cool and it's certainly unique. I wish you could get a regular make-up brush into the bottle, rather than having to use the doe foot applicator. 

Grade: B

Pari Beauty Ever Youthful Anti-Aging, Mineral Perfection, Precious Glow and Colour Cubes Review and Photos

I was sent some Pari products recently to try out. Pari is a mineral beauty line available in Sears stores. The following is taken from their Facebook page:

Introducing Pari Beauty, a comprehensive line of prestige quality color cosmetics and advanced skin care products. Pari Beauty cosmetics are performance formulas covering a full range of basic and trend shades across all beauty categories: eyes, face and lips. We believe that beauty starts with healthy skin and have specifically formulated and designed our skin care line to serve as the perfect co

mplement to achieving beautiful makeup. Our skin care products have been developed with our scientific knowledge and understanding that has resulted in technologically advanced formulas and unique combinations of active ingredients to deliver performance and results. Our skin care line works from a preventative and maintenance standpoint to delay the onset of wrinkles and premature aging while keeping skin healthy and radiant.

In addition to superior formulas, we are committed to offering our products at an irresistible value. Pari Beauty offers the quality and performance of prestige beauty brands but at pricing that is truly exceptional and accessible to makeup students, makeup professionals, and consumers.

It is through our dedication to the education and craftsmanship of the professional makeup artist, unique discussions with makeup artist schools and with our own experience in the beauty industry that we have learned the “tricks of the trade” and the “essential product tools” needed to create a beautiful face. Pari Beauty is proud to bring these unique, behind the scenes beauty tips and key products to the consumer.

Pari refers to a heavenly beautiful woman. Pari Beauty represents the heavenly beauty that exists in all women of all cultures and backgrounds. The seasoned founders of Pari Beauty bring over 30 years of related experience in makeup artistry, beauty retailing, consumer products, and product manufacturing.

Pari Beauty proudly does not test on animals. In addition, we try to use 100% recyclable packaging and the finest quality ingredients available.

I was sent a bottle of their Ever Youthful Anti-Aging Moisturizer, some of their Mineral Perfection Cream To Powder Foundation, some of their Precious Glow highlighter and a stack of pigment colours.

Pari Beauty Ever Youthful Anti-Aging Moisturizer: A protective, luxurious moisturizer that delays the onset of premature aging while keeping skin soft, supple, nourished and young-looking. It contains oat beta-glucan which tightens and lifts the skin, promotes wrinkle reduction and increases hydration. Hydrolyzed potato protein reduces the loss of structure and elasticity of skin tissue, inhibits collagen degradation and inhibits elastase activity. Zea Mays extract firms the skin's extra-cellular matrix and reducing the appearance of crow's feet, stimulates the synthesis of fibroblast fibronectin and reorganizes the extracellular matrix to increase the thickness of the skin. Sodium hyaluronate enables the skin to retain moisture.

$39 for 50 mL/1.7 fl. oz.

Review: A rich, but not heavy cream, the Ever Youthful moisturizer goes on very smoothly and absorbs readily. The texture is of medium-thickness and I need 1/2 - 3/4 of a teaspoon to cover my entire face and throat. I wore this overnight for a week at the time of writing this review and found my skin to feel quite supple in the morning. This would work nicely during the day, in fact, even more so as it's cold weather in Toronto right now so the heat is turned up and the cold air are making my skin thirstier than ever. 

Mineral Perfection in MP 51 Ivory: Delivers all day coverage with a unique cream to powder formulation which instantly softens the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines with a natural finish. Talc and paraben-free. Mineral Perfection contains Dermaxyl, which smoothes wrinkles and stimulates anti-aging peptides. Collagen Tripeptide improves the appearance of wrinkles and stimulates synthesis of fibroblast fibronectin. Comes in a mirrored compact with a sponge. 

$26

Wearing Mineral Perfection

Review: This is a medium coverage foundation that goes on smoothly. It applies well with a foundation brush as well as with the sponge it comes with. It covered well, with a creamy finish. It claims to have a powder finish but I didn't notice much of this. It did set after a little while but I had to set it with a loose powder, just as I would any cream or liquid foundation. I applied it over the areas of my face that tend to be quite pink - my nose, the areas around my nose, my chin, my forehead and the blotchy patch on my lower right cheek. Wear-wise, this didn't last all day. My skin is oily and even with a primer underneath, this got very patchy on my nose and between my eyebrows by midday. You could literally see the product melting off my face and my chin looked all but bare. I would recommend this for skin that is less oily as mine. 

Precious Glow: A liquid shimmer lotion has a quick-setting formula making it ideal as an eye primer or for mixing with eyeshadow for a more intense look. It can be mixed with lotion or foundation for a sun-kissed bronzed look or as an illuminating highlighter.

Contains titanium dioxide which delivers brightness and refractive properties and provides natural UV protection. Mica provides a silky and luxurious feel, a smooth, even finish and delivers a healthy glow which deflects light away from fine lines and wrinkles.

$15 for 10 mL/0.33 fl. oz.

Review: This is a very sheer liquid highlighter that can be blended with a liquid foundation, worn as an eye primer or worn as a highlighter. As you can see in the photos above, when blended out it's very subtle, more of a natural highlight. As an eye primer, it doesn't work very well with my oily skin, but for eyelids that are dryer, it would. It provide enough sheen that it could be worn on its own on the eyes for a soft shimmer. I wore it as a highlighter on the tops of my cheekbones and on my browbone and found it not so different from the natural sheen of my skin. 

8 Stack Colour Cubes in Punky Brewster: Specially designed Stardust towers provide a combination of intense, pearlescent, loose powder colours designed to inspire the ultimate creativity and design. These natural mineral powders are formulated to provide both a rich and luxurious feel with light diffusing properties. 

5 stack for $30/8 stack for $35

From L-R: First, third and fifth swatches are dry.
Second, fourth and sixth swatches are wet.

From L-R: First, third and fifth swatches are dry.
Second, fourth and sixth swatches are wet.

From L-R: First and third swatches are dry.
Second and fourth swatches are wet.

Review: The Colour Cubes are loose powder pigments with lots of sparkle. They can be used wet or dry and I've swatched them both ways in the photos below. They all have a tonne of colour and are more intense wet than dry. The red shades, when combined with water, will stain the skin slightly. These are fun sparkly colours than can be worn on their own or with other eyeshadow products.