Sally Hansen Miracle Gel

I’ve written before how hard I am on my nails. Most ‘regular’ polishes make in one, maybe two days if I’m lucky. That lead me to get my first salon gel manicure a couple of years ago (that one lasted around two weeks without chipping) and as a result, I invested in my own curing light and quite a few polishes. Unfortunately, I’m one of those people who gets bored easily so two weeks is a long time to keep me satisfied with just one nail color. Anyway, early last year I discovered Sally Hansen’s Miracle Gel polish and it has proved to be an affordable way to get an inexpensive, non-boring manicure that lasts a week on my abused mails. Woohoo!!!

These babies are great! They are available at most drugstores for right around 8 bucks (or $15 for a bottle of color and the top coat, which is a must have to make the whole thing work). I’ve got five or six colors in my collection and have worn them on fingers and toes. My favorite for my professional life is Bare Dare, a warmish nude that seems to match my skin tone pretty well. The nice thing about Miracle Gel is that there’s no light requirement or fancy nail prep or bottom coat. All you do is brush two thin coats on clean, bare nails and then add a coat of the Miracle Gel top coat. According to Sally Hansen, natural light works with the polish to continuously cure the gel thereby hardening the finish so that the wearer gets up to fourteen days of wear. Now, I generally do not get fourteen days of wear with any polish but anything over two days is a win for me! Miracle Gel definitely fits the bill and I consider it an affordable staple in my nail polish collection.

One thing I noticed about Miracle Gel is that the applicator brush seems to be quite a bit wider than all of my other polishes, including other gel polishes. At first, I thought this would be annoying but it really seems to work well. Unlike my experience with some thinner brushes, I do not get any drag or brush marks in my polish with Miracle Gel. Not sure if that’s why the brush is so wide, but it’s OK by me!

Last week I wore Bare Dare and these pictures were taken on Day 3. Since I traveled all week, the fact that my manicure shows no wear after three days is quite a big deal. Do you know how beaten up you get traveling by air? It’s killer!

Miracle Gel is available in over 45 shades at a drugstore near you. If you’re looking for a good, economical long wearing polish, this is definitely worth checking out!

Ages of Beauty rating: ****

IT Cosmetics Eyelift in a Tube!!!

Once again, It Cosmetics has hit it out of the ballpark with an under eye concealer! It’s no secret that my holy grail concealer is their Bye Bye Under Eye. I have long relied on it to do away with the dark shadows that have made their appearance under my eyes over the last few years. That product is really great and provides amazing coverage but sometimes, a girl needs a quick pick me up that goes on quickly and brightens as well as covers. And that’s what Eyelift in a Tube delivers so well!

This double-sided tube contains the Bye Bye Under Eye concealer on one end and It’s Hello Bright Eyes highlighter on the other. The liquid version of Bye Bye Under Eye provides slightly less coverage than it’s single, tube package counterpart, mostly due to it’s more liquid consistency but that only makes it easier to apply in a hurry. Just dabbing on a tiny bit under both eyes and then smoothing with a “tap tap tap” of a finger, I find that this concealer stays put all day with a light dusting of loose powder. On the other end, the highlighter allows me to further add a nice light to the area under my eyes, down the bridge of my nose, the tops of my cheekbones, etc. It applies smoothly and adds a slight luminescence, which is great for aging skin!

Concealer and highlighter in Light/Medium

Like Bye Bye Under Eye, this product also runs a bit light so I purchase the Light/Medium shade, which is perfect for me. You can see, in the picture above, that the concealer end is much more opaque than the highlighter end (which is exactly what you want). Because of its packaging, Eyelift in a Tube is very convenient for travel and touchups during the day or evening, if needed (which I haven’t so far).

Eyelift in a Tube is available on the It Cosmetics website or Ulta for $29 and comes in four shades. Could this be your new holy grail concealer/highlighter duo? You owe it to yourself to try it out!!

Ages of Beauty rating: **** 

OOOO Baby! I Love Your Baby Soft Feet!!!

In Florida, where I’ve been hanging out for a couple of months, it’s already sandal season but for the rest of the country, it’s finally getting into its full swing. If you’re anything like me, that means it’s time to do something about your dry, rough calloused feet! That lead me to Baby Foot, the crazy foot peel that I’ve been reading about for the past couple of years. I was determined that THIS was the year so I searched and searched locally to no avail. Heading to the internet and Mr. Google, I was able to find Baby Foot at Beauty Bridge for $24.95. 

The box contains a shiny foil packet that holds two gel-filled plastic “booties” where all the magic happens! I was a skeptic but willing to try and I wondered how in the world this highly touted foot peel could possibly do the job on my tough feet. So, the first thing I did was review the ingredients:

So….what do we have here? Water and alcohol and then the acids that really are the ones that do the work: lactic, glycolic, citric, malic and salicylic acids (smaller quantities of this). I’m familiar with all of those and have used lactic, glycolic and salicylic acids on my face. Then there’s arginine, an amino acid that is used for wound healing. I can see how that could be potentially beneficial in a peel and it’s towards the top of the ingredients list. Humectants and emollients include the butylene glycol, the PEG 60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil. Each bootie is filled with a fairly viscous gel, so there have to be some thickeners in here (there are: hydroxyethylcellulose but also the butylene glycol can be used as a gelling agent when used at up to 10% in formulations) and the fragrance (parfum, as well as Linalool and Limonene at the end) is listed fairly high up on the list so I suspect that everything after “butylene glycol” is at fairly low levels (less than 5%?). Some of the extracts and oils also provide some scent as well but I think that many of them are in the product to provide “label appeal.” The bulk of the work is definitely being done by the acids! We also have a couple of preservatives (Phenoxyethanol, sodium nitrate, glyoxal, and O-Cymen-5-OL---a preservative booster) and a PH adjustor (disodium phosphate).

OK---so how does it work? Well, first I soaked my feet for an hour to soften up the skin (this is a MUST). Then I stepped into each bootie and secured them with the tape provided (note---I had to supplement with my own Scotch Tape). The gel was thick enough to adhere to the skin but was a little bit slippery when I walked. So then I put my feet up and watched a move for an hour, giving the gel a chance to work. Once the time was up, I rinsed the gel off of my feet and then washed up.

For the first couple of days, nothing happened. It wasn’t until about the fifth day that the magic started:

The peeling started right under the balls of both feet and then later progressed to the tops and the sides of the feet. Almost over night (it seemed), the skin turned brittle and dry like an onion skin and flaked off like crazy. It didn’t itch or hurt and underneath was smooth, soft skin.

A LOT of skin sloughed off, guys! And while that’s happening, your feet look a little crazy (and you’ll have to vacuum your floors a lot) but you’ll be happy once it’s all done. I’m at Day 10 now and about the only thing that isn’t completely exfoliated are the very outer parts of each heel---the part of my heel that is the toughest! I definitely do like this product and will purchase it again (I may even try to “dupe” it in my spare time---yeah right!). Baby Foot definitely goes at least one better than a regular pedicure.

Check out Baby Foot at Beauty Bridge!!!

Ages of Beauty rating: ****

IT Cosmetics “Hello Light!”

Like many of you, I took advantage of It Cosmetics’ Friends & Family Sale and got 25% off a terrific stash of IT products! One that particularly caught my eye is their Hello Light Anti-Aging Creme Radiance Illuminator, which retails for $24 (see it here). I’ve always been fascinated by illuminating creams and powders but haven’t spent a lot of time getting to know how they best work. There’s no time like the present to start, right?

Hello Light comes in a substantial, shiny compact with a mirror and is a lovely, reflective cream product that is neither pearly white nor gold, which is kind of a big relief. I swear that some illuminators/highlighters are so difficult to wear during the day because they’re just a little bit “too” reflective but this product seems like it has the perfect balance of pearl/sheen/glow. The ingredients list consists of mica and silica, the items that provide the “glow” as well as several antioxidants like Vitamin E, a form of Vitamin C, and Vitamin A.

The texture is smooth, creamy and slightly dry to the touch---not greasy at all! This will be great news to those of you with oilier skin types while those of us with dryer skin will feel good knowing that it glides easily onto the skin, blending seamlessly. I found that once applied, Hello Light did not accentuate my fine lines or my huge forehead and nose pores.

IT Cosmetics is great about providing great guidance about using their products and Hello Light is a great example. They even provide a “roadmap” of what to do. Take a look!

Of COURSE I had to try this for myself!!! First, here’s my face with just CC Cream (by IT Cosmetics, of course!):

Wearing IT Cosmetics CC Cream and Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow as a contour

OK…here’s my rendition of the IT cosmetics “roadmap:”

It’s not as dramatic on my face as it is on the packaging, but that’s just because my skin color is pretty light. Here’s the “after:”

You can see that Hello Light imparts a subtle “lit from within” glow wherever I applied it and I think it’s just lovely! It wore well during the day and never settled or showed up as greasy on my skin. Not only that, it blended in really easily and I think it looks really great with the rest of my makeup:

Here are the before and after side by side:

What do I think? Hello Light is a winner as far as I’m concerned! It’s subtle and not too shiny---perfect for over 40 lovelies like us! Find it at the IT Cosmetics website here or at Ulta.

Ages of Beauty rating: ****

Revlon Limited Edition Vintage Super Lustrous Lipstick

When I think of lipstick, I think of Revlon. Always have and probably always will. My very first lipsticks were Revlon---probably Coral Vanilla-- a color my mother always wore----and I started playing with them when I was two or three years old. The pretty colors mesmerized me then and now! So it was with great excitement when I saw the Revlon display in my local drugstore announcing colors that had been “brought back” for a special, limited edition release
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I may be a little but late to the party, but I’ve seen these beauties in the several stores this morning and they are certainly available online. For about $7.99, you can have a little bit of luxury right at your fingertips. The collection consists of five saturated colors and I purchased four of them. Read on for swatches and more pictures!

From left:

Jungle Peach (original release: 1963)

Snow Peach (original release: 1956)

Icy Violet (original release: 1946)

Fifth Avenue Red (original release: 1958)

(not shown: Sandstorm---from 1999)

Jungle Peach (creme)

Jungle Peach (a bit light for my tastes but I’m really liking how it photographs against my skintone! Feels very 1968 to me!)

Jungle Peach (creme)

Jungle Peach (lovely! This has been my “go to” lipstick frequently this past month!)

Icy Violet (shimmer)

Icy Violet (shimmer---this one feels “mysterious” to me!)

Fifth Avenue Red (creme)

Fifth Avenue Red (a great, easy to wear neutral red!)

Each one of these lipsticks feels good on the lips---no stickiness or dryness. Pigment is excellent and the price is right—what more can a lipstick lover ask for?

Find them at your local drugstore or online for about $7.99. Already have them? Love them? Tell me!

Ages of Beauty rating: ****

Maybelline Face Studio Master Hi-Light Blush—Dupe for Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush?

I have been on a blush kick lately and thanks to Maybelline’s Face Studio Master Hi-Light Blush, I just may be in love! Available in six shades, this lovely, illuminating, silky wonder is just the thing to perk up my face on a dreary winter’s day. Read on for more details!!

For about $8.99 each, I purchased three shades of Master Studio Blush in Pink Rose, Mauve and Coral. I’ve been sporting these for about the past three weeks and it was literally love at first sight! These compacts hold the perfect combination of pigment, matte finish and shimmer finish, providing a beautiful, glowing flush that works for ladies of all ages. Neither too matte nor too luminous, I find that they are an easy, low cost dupe for the finish provided by the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush. In fact, I’ve been reaching for them more than any of the five Hourglass blushes in my collection (I’ll review Hourglass in a future post). See below for more pictures!

Pink Rose

(a blend of matte rose, matte pink, shimmery medium pink and shimmery light pink)

Pink Rose

Pink Rose

Coral

(a blend of matte terracotta, matte coral, shimmery coral and shimmery light coral)

Coral

Coral

Mauve

(a blend of matte plum, matte mauve, shimmery gold and shimmery light gold)

Mauve

Mauve

Besides the three colors I purchased, there are three more! Shades include:

• Nude
• Light Bronze
• Deep Bronze

I swirled all of the colors in the compact together when I wore them on my cheeks, but each individual strip in each compact can also be used on other areas of the face to highlight or contour. These blushes are so versatile and so affordable!!! Check them out at your favorite drugstore or online shop!

Ages of Beauty rating: ****

Julep Sweep Eyeshadow Palette: Neutrals

In a recent Julep Maven Box, I received the Julep Sweep Eyeshadow Palette, a nifty, compact palette containing five warm beige/brown shades. I was really excited to get this as I hadn’t tried any of Juleps “non nailpolish”  beauty products. What a treat!!!

The palette itself is made of a stiff, black cardboard that has held up well in my travels. Although the colors are described as “neutral,” I would say that these colors are at the warmer end of the spectum, much like Urban Decay’s Naked 1 Palette. I typically prefer slightly cooler shades but these worked really well for me. From a texture perspective, I found them pigmented to deeply pigmented and not too powdery (there’s a small amount of fallout on the palette itself but I had no problem once they were applied to my lids). Colors available in this palette are:

Tiramisu:nude satin

Glow: golden shimmer

Dusk: mauve satin

Toffee: bronze shimmer

Cocoa: chocolate brown with gold shimmer

Tiramisu, Glow, Dusk, Toffee, Cocoa

Glow on lid, Toffee in Crease, Tiramisu under  brow

(Please ignore the wonky eyebrows—-I was experimenting!)

Over all, I really like this palette. It wore well over a primer (I used the Wet & Wild eye primer for this look) and the pigments stayed true. The texture was more of a satin rather than a shimmer (which is awesome, in my opinion). For me, there are only two things that would make it perfect: a lighter (and more neutral) color than Tiramisu and at least one true matte. If you like warm colors, this is a good one for you (and even if you don’t, this is an excellent all purpose warm neutral palette with colors that should be in every makeup lover’s eye shadow wardrobe). It’s also nicely versatile with the darker colors offering up so much pigment that you’ll be able to easily create a smoky eye. At $24 for non Mavens and $19.20 for Maven’s, it’s a really good value! Check it out at Juleps awesome website here.

Ages of Beauty rating: ****