Go Mad for Mattes!

I’ve long been a fan of matte eyeshadows, particularly for women of a certain age (mine). When I was younger, I used mattes to blend my eye looks so that there were no harsh edges. I still do that but now also find that they are especially useful when applying color to my crease and the dreaded “hood” that I’ve developed over the years. While the look of the ‘80s (big hair, frosty, unblended eye shadow) doesn’t really work with my fine lines, I can still pull off a mean smoky eye as long as I use mattes. That’s where Sonia Kashuk’s Eye on Neutral Matte Shadow Palette comes in! This lovely, reasonably priced palette contains twelve beautiful and neutral matte shades that let’s me blend to my heart’s delight! Read on for more!

For the past month and a half, I’ve enjoyed creating all kinds of great looks going from day to evening. Let’s start with the swatches.

The first (top) row contains the three lightest shades: a bone, a slightly yellow color and then a very light peach. The bone shows up very well on my hand but the yellow and peach are much closer to my skin tone and do not show as well. In the picture above, the second shades are right above the reflective area (I think that was some shine back from something else I had on my skin as both of these colors are actually very matte). Depending on the look I’m going for, I’ve used each of these as both base colors for the lid as well as highlight colors.

The next three colors work well (for me) as lid colors. They include a peachy light terracotta, a coral and a light but warm brown. I also use the light brown in a “no makeup look” as a crease color. It’s nice in that it can lightly define the crease for a subtle look.

Row three contains the most beautiful, creamy matte browns. There’s a warm red-brown, a neutral darker brown and a neutral very dark brown. Any of these make wonderful crease or “outer V” colors. As a liner, the darkest brown looks lovely.

Finally, the lower row features a cool-ish brown that almost looks like it has a hint of purple, a medium gray and a very pigmented black. These three colors can really turn your eye shadow look on its edge and jazz things up.



Eye on Neutrals contains twelve amazingly pigmented shadows for only $19.99 and is available at Target. It is, without a doubt, the best drugstore palette I’ve ever used! If you’re looking for a great collection of neutrals whose quality rivals the best high end palettes, look no further than Sonia Kashuk!

Ages of Beauty rating: *****

Keep Your Resolutions: Drugstore FOTD!

If you’re like me, you probably began January thinking, “Wow…I may have overspent during the holidays!” I thought about going on a “no buy” month (or six), which is fairly likely, although I’m not ready to commit to that yet. Fortunately, I have a TON of beauty products that I still need to test, photograph and review. That got me thinking about makeup I already have in my collection that would make a great drugstore post. Today’s Face of the Day uses some of my old and new drugstore favorites and all of them are affordable! You probably have some of them already in your collection (or you should!) so take a look!

For this makeup look, I wanted something clean, fresh and pretty (nothing too bright, too heavy or too shiny). Here’s what I used:

• Revlon Photo Ready Perfecting Primer--$12.99 (my favorite drugstore primer!)
• Lumene CC Cream in Medium--$14.99
• Milani The Multi Tasker Face Powder in Light Medium--$6.99
• Revlon Photo Ready Bronzer--$7.99
• Sonia Kashuk Cream Blush in Petal--$9.89
• Revlon Photo Ready Concealer in Light--$8.99
• Sonia Kashuk Extreme Wear Eye Primer--$9.99 (this rivals Urban Decay’s Primer Potion in performance!)
• Revlon Brow Fantasy in Dark Brown--$6.49
• Rimmel Scandal Eyes Retro Glam Waterproof Mascara in Black--$6.99
• Sonia Kashuk Eye On Neutral Eye Shadow Palette--$19.99 (the matte shadows)
• Sonia Kashuk Sweet Nothings Eye Shadow Palette --$14.29
• NYX Collection Noir Liquid Black Liner--$5.99 (upper lids)
• Rimmel Scandal Eyes Waterproof Pencil in Taupe--$4.49 (under lower lashes)
• No. 7 Lip Pencil in Plum--$6.99 (lining lips and then filling in lips)
• NYX Butter Gloss in Vanilla Cream Pie--$4.99

For the eye shadow, I used the Sweet Nothing Eye Palette (lower left hand corner) shadow all over the lid with the lightest color (upper left hand corner) shade in the tear duct area. Then I used a couple of shadows from the matte palette (Eye on Neutrals): lower left hand color—a cool brown—in the crease, a deeper brown---second row from the bottom and at the far right---in the outer “V” and then the lightest color right under the brows. I’m really loving these Sonia Kashuk eye shadows!

This was a really easy, light look that wore well all day. It’s perfect for work or really any day that you want to look a bit polished but not dramatic.

What are you doing about “spending” on beauty products after the holidays? Are you shopping your stash? Let me know!

Product Review: elf Pout Perfecter

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!!! As I wax poetic on the wonders of elf’s Pout Perfecter, I ponder where this lip gloss was when I was in sixth grade and just learning about the joys of makeup, specifically lip gloss! Back then my gloss of choice was Bonne Belle’s Lip Smackers in raspberry and root beer. Another favorite was a sticky, Juicy Fruit gum smelling and tasting gloss in a roller ball applicator. Ahhhh…those were great times!!!





As a twelve year old, it was all about the shine and the more shine the better! That meant lip gloss all over the lips (and, unfortunately, sometimes above them). Today, as a a mature woman (cough), I recognize the need for restraint and good taste, thus my personal rule that most glosses should function as an enhancement to a more subdued texture and placed in the middle of one's lips. At our age, I think it behooves us to go a bit lighter on the gloss so our lips (and the inevitable lines around them) don’t act as a beacon. My own preference is to put a gloss on over the top of an opaque lip color, first dabbing it on the middle of the bottom lip and then lightly rubbing my lips together to transfer the gloss to the middle of my top lip.





elf’s Pout Perfector is one gloss that benefits greatly from that technique. This stuff really packs a glittery punch with large particles of glitter easily seen in the formula. Normally, that wouldn’t be ideal for me but it really works in this product. As I mentioned in my post Rose Gold and a Tan, this is a great formula for setting off warmer skin tones!





The gloss itself is thick and slightly sticky, but that helps with its staying power, which was about three hours for me, even drinking water during the work day. The packaging is nice and functional although the brush is pretty cheap. But what can you expect for a lip gloss that costs $3.00! I purchased mine at my local Target but you can also get it at elf Cosmetics online. 

elf Pout Perfecter over Nars Satin Lip Pencil in Rikugien

Pout Perfecter is a definite win for me and a great value!! Have you used this gloss? What do you think?

Ages of Beauty rating: ****

Budget Face of the Day

I started this blog as an outlet for myself and a resource for women roughly my age and older who are dealing with issues concerning body image, aging, elderly parents, children , finances, health and beauty. I’m no writer but it’s been a great experience and being the beauty junkie that I am, I absolutely LOVE when I can find an inexpensive product that works. In the beauty industry today, we’re bombarded with messages like “you’re not thin enough, pretty enough, or young enough but if you want to be those things you need to spend $$$$$ on THIS product in order to be worthwhile.” OK, not really those exact words, but with all of the Photo Shopped images in magazines and insanely expensive beauty products out there, things have gotten a little ridiculous.

The other day, I posted a “face of the day” that used all high end products. I love all of those products but the price tag on that entire look was pretty high (I didn’t even add it up---I just know it was “a little much.”). So in the interest of being balanced, today’s post uses all drugstore products and many of them are very inexpensive!




I start out with mascara, because I almost always make a mess that has to be cleaned up. For this look, I used Neutrogena’s Healthy Volume Mascara in Black/Brown. At $7.49, this is an excellent budget pick and makes my lashes longer and thicker (and it doesn’t smudge!!!).

Almay CC Cream in Light

My next step for this look was the application of Almay’s new CC Cream in light. This is a new product and so far I like it as a tinted moisturizer. It costs about $9.99 (give or take) at your nearest drugstore. Wherever I needed “correcting,” I applied Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Spot Concealer + Treatment ($9.99). Then I set my face with Revlon’s Nearly

 Pressed Powder ($9.99).





OK. Now back to the eyes where I found some GREAT budget picks! From the lash line to the eyebrow, I applied Wet N Wild’s Color Icon Shadow Single eye shadow in Brulee ($1.99!!!). This eye shadow is SOOOO great and it’s my go-to base shadow for many, many looks. If you didn’t know better, you’d think it was a high end shadow! On the lid I applied NYX’s single shadow in Taupe ($4.99) and Dark Brown ($4.99) in the crease. Surprisingly enough, all three shadows lasted all day without creasing and I didn’t even apply any eyelid primer, which I usually have to wear. Next I lined my upper lids with L’Oreal’s Voluminous Smoldering Eyeliner in Black ($8.99). I’m still testing this one out so I’ll let you know if it’s a great product after more testing. On the lower water line, I used Rimmel’s Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in

 ($4.49). This step is a way to brighten your eyes. Most eyeliners don’t last on my waterline but this one did a reasonably good job, although it does require a touch up after a few hours. Last but not least, I applied some of the mascara to my eyebrows to cover up the white hair!





On my face, I used Revlon’s PhotoReady Bronzer (about $10.50), which is an excellent, matte bronzer that includes four shades. With this product, I contoured my jaw line and cheeks as well as used it on my forehead at the hairline. The last products I used were a real value from Elf. Their powder blush in Tickled Pink ($3.00), paired with the All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade ($1.00), provided a nice flush that lasted most of the day with just a little bit of fading. I also used the All Over Color Stick on my lips.











At just over $68, these products were good budget picks. Most (not the mascara or the all over color stick) will last for 6-12 months, depending on how often they are used so I think that they could be excellent choices for a woman on a budget. But while I’m thinking of it, I’m wondering if it’s possible to do a full face for under $25? Hmmmm….maybe that will be a future subject for a face of the day post!!!

Do you use any of these products? If so, what do you think of them?

A Vintage Spring Look

My favorite makeup artist, Lisa Eldridge, recently posted a makeup video that she calls “Baby Bardot.” It shows a young model with a beautiful, soft vintage makeup look a la Brigitte Bardot. Lisa also did this look on Kate Winslet for UK Harper’s Bazaar (pictures here). At the time, I thought the look was absolutely lovely and that there is no reason why a woman over 40 couldn’t look just as good!

The high points of this makeup are flawless skin with a matte finish, muted colors and bold, black eyeliner that has been “winged” out to the sides.
The face is flawless and matte so I used Revlon’s Colorstay Makeup (the one for dry skin) and combined two colors: Ivory and Buff. I applied it with a Bobbi Brown flat foundation brush in thin layers. When I was satisfied with the finish, I applied It Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye concealer in a combination of Light and Medium under my eyes, around my chin and where ever I had any dark spots. Then I powdered with Revlon’s Nearly *aked pressed powder in Fair.

For Eyes, I happened to have the same eye shadow palette that Lisa uses---Pixi’s Shade Quartette in Shades of *ude (I bought it at Target). The lightest shade was applied on the lid and almost up to the brows. Then I used the brown shade directly opposite the lightest shade in the pan in the crease. I also applied it under my lower lashes. This Pixi quad is lovely and the colors really last.



As Lisa explains in the video, the liner is thicker than the liner of the early 1950s but not as heavy and thick as in the 1960s. I used Bobbi Brown’s Gel Liner in Black with a very fine liner brush to line the eyes and make the “wing.” You can see that the liner is thinner closer to the nose and then in the middle of the eye it begins to thicken to meet the end of the tail, forming a triangular wing. Then I used two coats of Trish McEvoy’s High Volume Mascara in Jet Black. Lisa uses both mascara and individual false lashes in the video but I skipped the lashes. On my brows, I brushed on an Espresso brow gel by Anastasia Beverly Hills to cover the white hair in my eyebrows.





I can see that I didn’t quite get the left eye as even as I wanted but you get the idea! If you’re like me, your eyes may be getting more and more hooded as you age. That’s a really normal part of the aging process (or you may have been born with hooded eyes) and at some point, I may decide to do an eye lift. For now, I adjust my eye makeup by avoiding shiny shadow anywhere near the brow bone and bring my crease color up a little higher to help the area recede. When doing a winged eye liner, I also have to draw the wing a little bit longer to get the same impact. Here’s a better view of my hooded eyes:



You’ll be able to tell if your eyes are hooded when you look straight in the mirror. If you can’t see your eyelids, your eyes are hooded! You can also scroll up to the first picture and see that my eyelids are covered when I’m looking directly at the camera. It’s not a big deal to me and I just adjust what I’m doing to compensate for it.

The rest of my face is dusted with Revlon’s Photo Ready Matte Bronzer in Bronzed & Chic under the cheekbones and then Physician’s Formula Se*y Booster blush in Natural. I also used a Mac lip pencil in Subculture all over the lips and then OCC Cosmetics’ Lip Tar in Ophelia to finish it off. This is a beautiful, soft look that will look great on most people, adjusting for skin tones. At some point, I’ll try it with black/brown mascara and a dark brown eyeliner instead of the black.

Do you have any favorite looks for Spring?

Product Review: Almay Smart Shade Mousse Makeup

Not too long ago, I picked up a jar of Almay’s new Smart Shade Mousse Makeup in shade Light 100 at my local CVS. Honestly, I’ve never been a huge consumer of Almay’s cosmetics and had not heard of this particular item but it looked interesting so I thought, “What the heck?” This took place right before I joined my parents in Florida and since this was the only foundation I packed, I wore it for a full two weeks.



The foundation itself is whitish-gray in the jar. It’s light and airy, just like….mousse! (Imagine that!) I was pretty skeptical that it would transform itself from a dingy gray to match “my” color but it actually does a good job of that. Actually, I think what it does is transform itself into a particular color, not necessarily my perfect color and if it matches I just happened to pick the right color. Okay…I said I was skeptical and I didn’t have anyone with slightly different skin to test on, so there’s that. Needless to say, the “light” color does match my skin pretty well. Here are a couple of swatches that show the “transformation.”

Right out of the jar

Half Blended

Fully Blended

Almay’s Smart Shade Mousse Makeup feels very light and smooths onto the skin easily. Coverage is light/medium and is build-able up to a full medium. It looks natural and wears well. The color also looked good. One thing about this foundation is that it does not contain sunscreen, which is fine, so you’ll need to wear a moisturizer containing sunscreen (or a regular sunscreen formulated for the face). The one minor complaint that I have is that it is packaged in a jar, which is not that sanitary. Not a huge deal to me but it could be for some.

Overall, I think this is a good foundation and I recommend it for someone who wants a light to medium coverage. You’ll need to use concealer over any darker spots or circles but this wears really well, in my opinion. Check it out at your local drugstore. I paid $13.99 at CVS and consider it a good buy.

Ages of Beauty rating: ****

Face of the Day: Spring is Here!!!

Spring is here and I've been testing out all kinds of products! After spending two weeks in Florida, I thought it was time to break out my Spring clothing, even though the weather here in Virginia hasn't been exactly Spring-like. As part of that, it seemed like a good time to try on a lighter, brighter makeup.

Some of these products have been reviewed but most haven't and I'll be posting reviews of them over the next few days. Here's a list of what I'm wearing:

• Almay Smart Shade Mousse Makeup in Light
• It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye in Light
• CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume (the orange tube) Mascara
• Wet & Wild Eyeshadow in Petal Pusher
• Cailyn Line-Fixx Gel Eyeliner in Black
• Manna Kador Blush in High Five
• Nars Light Reflecting Setting Powder
• Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick in Pink Freeze (805)

What makeup looks are you wearing this Spring?

Product Review: Revlon Nearly Naked Pressed Powder

I think I mentioned that I'm currently working remotely from my normal remote office in VA. I'm in Florida with my parents and there are some issues I'm helping them with. It's a bit stressful around here and I missed blogging on Thursday. Let's see if I can get back in the swing of things with a couple of blog entries for Friday!

A couple of months ago, I reviewed Revlon's Nearly Naked foundation here. At the time, I didn't purchase the coordinating powder but I've recently done that and have been wearing it a lot. Click below to find out what I think!

Product Review: Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream

Garnier's Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream was the very first non-Asian BB Cream that I purchased when the BB Cream craze hit the U.S.  What do I think of it? Click below to find out!

Product Review: Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Makeup

Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Makeup has been around for awhile (a year?) and I've really been meaning to review it since I think it is fairly unique in the beauty market. Revlon promises a long wearing, flawless look. Does it deliver? Click below to find out!

Product Review: Physicians Formula Eye Booster 2 in 1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum

I never really got on the band wagon of the magic marker/pen type of eyeliners. They seem like an expensive, iffy kind of proposition for my hard earned dollars. So I was pleasantly surprised when I started hearing great things about Physicians Formula Eye Booster 2 in 1 Lash Boosting Eyeliner + Serum. 

Click below to find out my thoughts!

Product Review: Revlon PhotoReady Eye Primer + Brightener

I live and die by my Holy Grail eye shadow primer, Urban Decay's Primer Potion. Since starting this blog, however, I make it a point to find great drugstore products. 

There are many wonderful drugstore items that I like as well, or even better than, my favorite high end choices. The one area where I've struggled is with eye primers. Almost all I have tried have allowed my eye shadow to crease within hours. 

How does Revlon's PhotoReady Eye Primer + Brightener stand up? Click below to find out!

Product Review: Maybelline Color Tattoo Eyeshadows

I may be late to the game but I just had to write about my love for the Maybelline  Eyestudio Color Tattoo 24 HR Cream Gel Shadow. While I don't recommend wearing any eye shadow for 24 hours, there is so much to love about this product that you just have to try it!

You NEED this product and I'm going to tell you why! 

Product Review: CoverGirl Clump Crusher by Lashblast Mascara

I spent two weeks testing CoverGirl's Clump Crusher Mascara. Did it pass my flake and smudge test? Click below to find out!

Product Review: Physicians Formula Se*y Booster Se*y Glow Glossy Stain

Physicians Formula has done it again with the release of their Se*y Booster Se*y Glow Glossy Stain. In my last post, I mentioned how  their Se*y Booster Blush caught my eye, with it's ultra cute packaging, yummy scent and subtle glow. Does the Glossy Stain please me as much as the blush did? Click below to find out!

Product Review: Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Blush

Happy 1st Day of Spring!!!

Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Blush has been beckoning to me every time I pass a Physicians Formula display. I finally gave in and purchased both colors. Click below for my thoughts!

Face of the Day: Drugstore Brands

I've been working for the last few days to get back on track after being away for over a week. Today was the first day that I actually took the time to put on makeup so I thought it would be a good time to do a Face of the Day (FOTD) post. 

Every item I used today is from the drugstore. Just about every item I used has not been reviewed yet so you can look forward for more reviews of some quality drugstore products. Click below to see what makes up this look!