10 High End Products Worth A Splurge!

Over the past nine months or so (and even longer for some of these products), I’ve been able to use some really great high end products (and, unfortunately, some that are not so great). I thought it was time that I put together a list of products that are worth the splurge. Some of these are just slight splurges for most people and some are pretty big splurges. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll post reviews of those that I have not yet covered.

1. YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat Illuminating Foundation

At $55 per bottle, Yves St. Laurent’s newest foundation is not easy on the wallet, but it’s really beautiful and especially appropriate for aging skin. I’ve been wearing this a lot lately and can’t wait to tuck in to a proper review. If you’re looking for a new foundation and are willing to shell out some cash for a truly wonderful finish, check this one out at your local Sephora or in your favorite department store. More to come on this fabulous foundation!

2. Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Rose Initiale

I love this rose-scented, medium pink, cool toned powder blush! For about the past year (or maybe a little longer), this little blush has brightened my face with its cheery, sweet flush. I’m sure it’s my imagination but I just feel prettier when I wear this product. Mine was purchased at the Chanel counter in my local Nordstrom for $43. You can also purchase it directly from Chanel at their website.

3. Lorac Pro Palette

The eye shadows in this palette are absolutely glorious! Even though it’s been out for awhile, I waited until just a few weeks ago to purchase it and I couldn’t be happier with this acquisition! This one will be the source of a post this week. Keep checking back!!! Available for $42 at the Sephora website (they took this brand out of my local store) and Ulta, where I purchased it.

4. Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer

Hellooooo, Lover!!! This primer is my Holy Grail (HG) face primer. Yes, it’s expensive at $52 for the larger, 1 ounce size but, in my opinion, it is so worth it! A review is pending but if you’re in the market for a new primer NOW, get thee to Sephora and either get them to provide a free sample for you to try or purchase the travel size for $18. You won’t be sorry!!!

5, Nars Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder

I use this powder almost every day that I apply makeup! It is absolutely beautiful on the skin and in photos (see my review here). I like it so much that I use it in both the loose and pressed version (which I keep in my purse). Available at Sephora for $34.

6. Chanel Illusion D’Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow in Illusiore

I have been lusting over this eyeshadow since it came out probably two years ago but just purchased it about two weeks ago. It’s purply taupy-ness is absolutely gorgeous! although I haven’t yet actually worn it, I will be doing so very soon and will report back with swatches. I purchased it at Nordstrom for $36.

7. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder

This beautiful, light reflecting powder diffuses light and softens the skin in a magical way. I use it after my finishing powder and love its impact on my complexion. It’s been in my collection for almost a year so it’s high time I posted a review!! Available at Sephora for $45 in six luminous colors.

8. Trish McEvoy High Volume Mascara

This mascara is, by far, the best freaking mascara I have ever worn (I reviewed it here). Yes, I know it retails for $31 at Nordstrom and normally, I would NEVER spend that much for a mascara but this one is worth every penny and I continue to re-purchase. If you want a jet black, hugely volumizing, non smudging mascara (on your upper AND lower lashes), this one is for you!

9. Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel

Here’s yet another one of my Holy Grail products that I haven’t reviewed! This brow gel is the only thing I’ve found that can tint my grey and white eyebrow hairs back to their natural color and not flake off during the day. I purchase it at Sephora for $22 and it is available there in six shades (my color is Espresso). Oddly enough, people stop me on the street and ask about my eyebrows. I guess when you’re my age and the eyebrows look natural and don’t contain any white or gray, that resonates with people! Anyway, they do ask and I do recommend. Stay tuned for a review on this shortly!

10. Guerlain Rouge G de Guerlain Jewel Lipstick Compact in Gigolo

This gorgeous lipstick is pretty new for me but has already impressed the socks off of me! Gigolo is a burgundy wine color that will look great with fall fashions. I’m all set to go on a review for this one but if you’re dying to purchase it, get it at Sephora for $49.50 (yeah, I know---a $50 lipstick---but it’s soooooo good!).

How about you? Are there any high end products that you just can’t live without?

Product Review: Mac Face & Body Foundation

I’ve been reading about Mac Face & Body for years but it wasn’t until this summer that I decided to try it. My continued use of the St. Tropez Self Tan Bronzing Mousse necessitated a different shade of foundation. Add that to the fact that I like to use a much lighter foundation during the summer than in the winter and things were ripe for a change!

Since I have never used this product and since it has been years since I’ve had any kind of tan on my skin, I ventured to my closest Mac counter at the local Nordstrom. I”m “normally” an NW20 in Mac foundations but Face & Body uses a different methodology for naming colors. Since I wanted to cover both my face and my neck/chest (which I do on occasion), the counter associate matched me to C3 and C4. It turns out that either color on its own, or a mixture of the two colors works great as my fake tan fades. To give you an idea of my coloring without the St. Tropez tan, I believe my match would be either N1 or N2 in F & B.

C3 and C4

C3 and C4

One of the great things about Face & Body is its consistency. It’s very thin and watery, which makes it ideal for summer. Not only can it be applied in thin, buildable layers, it doesn’t sit in pores so the skin looks smooth and luminous. F & B is moisturizing and lasts extremely well in the summer heat. As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in Arizona in 110 degree heat and I’ve been going in and out all day. I didn’t even set with powder and while my skin is definitely not matte, it is luminous and the finish is still great!

“Buildability” is what Face & Body is all about so I took some pictures without makeup, with one thin layer of F & B and then with two thin layers of F & B. In each of these pictures, I’m wearing a coat of mascara on the top lashes and a neutral lip gloss. I am NOT wearing any powder and when these pictures were taken, I was literally in the desert where temperatures were over 100 degrees every day. As a result, my face is more "glowy" than normal. It is not oil but it is due to the heat!  Here are the results:

No makeup

One layer of Mac Face & Body in a mixture of C3 and C4

Two layers of Mac Face & Body in a mixture of C3 and C4

No makeup, one layer Face & Body, two layers Face & Body

You can see that my face is luminous and natural looking, even with two thin layers of foundation. I haven’t applied more than two layers yet, but I would imagine you’ll get subtle increases in coverage with each additional layer. In these pictures, I’m not wearing any concealer (a review is coming on my favorite Mac concealer) but, admittedly, I have very good skin (with a few minor discolorations at the jawline and maybe a blemish every so often). If you’re looking for a high coverage foundation, Face & Body is not your answer. But for those of us who appreciate the positive impact that a sheerer foundation has on aging skin, this one’s a keeper!!!

Mac Face & Body is available in two sizes: 1.7 ounces for $27 and 4 ounces for $33 (holy cow---great value!!!). I got the smaller size and this stuff will last me for a looong time! You can find this product at your local Mac and Nordstrom stores or online.

Ages of Beauty rating: *****

High End Makeup of the Day

I’ve been playing around a lot with some items I’ve had in my collection for awhile. Some are things that I’ve received as part of various subscription boxes (so i didn’t pay separately for them) and some I purchased at a retailer. Since I’ve also been using the St. Tropez self tanner on the rest of my body, I thought I’d do something summery on my face. All of these products are so called “high end” products.





First things first---foundation. Becca’s Luminous Skin Colour Ultra Sheer Foundation is a new product for me. I have been wanting to try this product for awhile so I finally purchased it at Sephora (here). Retailing for $42, it comes in a fairly large 1.7 oz bottle. I got it in Olive, which is about two shades darker than my complexion.. This worked perfectly against my chest since I have been using the self tanner. It’s also really sheer so even if it’s darker than two shades, it’s pretty hard to mess up. At some point I’ll do a full review of this foundation as I think it’s great for summer.





Since the foundation is so sheer, I not only used concealer under my eyes but on a few darker areas of my face. For this, I used Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Concealer in R1. This is another new product that, again, I purchased at Sephora (here). This particular shade works well for my “tanned” look, but that’s sad because there’s only one color lighter than this one so that says a lot about my level of paleness! It’s a good product and at $20, I think it’s a good price point for a high end concealer. I’ll also review this one in the future.





Over that I applied the Nars Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder (reviewed here), which I already had in my collection. Next up was Bobbi Brown’s Matte Bronzer in Medium 2, which was also from my collection. I like this bronzer because it’s matte and it’s also more red based than orange/brown based like a lot of bronzers. The red undertones are important because when I tan, my skin has a red undertone rather than yellow. That means that this color of bronzer tends to look more natural on me. You can check out this bronzer on Bobbi’s website here. It retails for $38 but you get a lot of bronzer which will last a long time. I used the bronzer to contour my cheeks, along the edges of my jaw and at the top of my forehead and down the middle of my nose.

As for blush, I had received a full size Be a Bombshell Blush in Sweet Cheeks as part of one of my subscription boxes. Since I had never even heard of the brand, I was anxious to try it. This is a really nice blush and I’m looking forward to trying more of their products. Sweet Cheeks retails for $16 and you can see more here.





Now on to the eyes. I used Mac’s Blanc Type powder shadow (from my collection) from the last line to the eyebrow. In the crease, I used Nars Cosmetics’s Ondine shadow, a plummy browny yummy color. Both of these colors are great for everyday wear and look good with all eye colors.








For mascara, I used The Balm’s What’s Your Type? Body Builder mascara (here for $19) and I also used The Balm’s Schwing black liquid eyeliner (here for $17).






Last but not least, I used a Paula Dorf eye pencil in Baby Eyes Enhancer on my lower rims. I received this in a subscription box but this retails for $20 (I also like this product).

Finally, to finish things up, I used Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Rouge in 20 Baby Pink. I love this product and must review it soon!









That’s my latest summer “high end” face. What do you think? Have you used any of these products? Are there any you want to try?

What a Great Gift!!!

I celebrated a birthday last week and honestly, things were so crazy here that I didn’t even really remember it was happening that week. On my actual birthday, I was on a business trip but the night before, my family took me to dinner to celebrate. During the celebration, they presented me with several gifts—a great looking, edgy bracelet from Fossil (from my step son and his girlfriend) and a beautiful, very special gift from my husband---a bottle of Creed’s Spring Flower eau de parfum.



One of the reasons why this is such a great gift for me is that it is something I would never even think to buy for myself. Not that I don’t love perfume , I just don’t think of it. Secondly, anything by Creed is very, very special. For those of you not familiar with the brand, it was founded in 1760 in London as the House of Creed. An early favorite of Europe’s royal families, Creed is known for their quality, refinement and originality. It is also a family run business after all of these years and continues its stellar reputation.

According to my research, Spring Flower was created in 1951 for Audrey Hepburn, star of films like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Sabrina,” “Roman Holiday” and many others. The scent was kept private until 1996, when it was released to the public. It’s a lovely, floral, feminine scent that includes top notes of peach, melon and apple; middle notes of jasmine and rose; and base notes of musk and ambergris. I absolutely love it!!



The Spring Flower bottle is also absolutely beautiful! It is a bright, bright pink with gold lettering a gold top, and a white/pink/green ribbon around the neck. If you love pink, you’ll love this bottle!!!



My husband also took the extra step and had them engrave the bottle for my birthday. I was floored!



Last but not least, my husband also included a small atomizer with a little bit of the Spring Flower perfume inside. It was also engraved with his nickname for me (awwwww!!) and it’s so cute! Also available in this scent is a soap, a body lotion, a shower gel, a candle and a perfume oil. I may spring for one of these to layer the scent.

Creed perfume is not inexpensive so it truly is a very special gift. It can be purchased on line directly from Creed (here) or from a local retailer. The retailers tend to be an area’s higher end retailers (Saks in our area) and you can find a local retailer on the Creed site (here).

Have you ever tried any of Creed’s products? 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: Stila All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner

Stila’s All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner is touted as waterproof, non smudging, and easy to use. I’ve been wearing it quite a bit lately. Not only has it proved to be non smudging in our cooler Spring weather in Virginia, but also during the time I spent in Florida where it was in the mid to high eighties every day. Since I take issue with liners that smudge, that is a great thing!



The Stila liner costs $20 and is available in the following colors:

• Black
• Alloy (Charcoal Gray)
• Dark Brown
• Moss
• Indigo
• Periwinkle
• Snow

I purchased mine from Sephora in Moss, which is a beautiful forest green color.



For me, the two things that matter the most, in the success of an eyeliner, are the tip and the formula. In Stila’s case, the tip is a cross between a marker and a brush—soft enough to flex when applying either a thin, winged out look and firm enough to accomplish a thicker line. This is key when executing a precision look. That’s probably why I don’t tend to love eyeliner pencils as it’s pretty difficult to get a good, clean line with them sometimes.



The pigmentation in this eyeliner is excellent and the wear factor is even better. I wore it for twelve hours with no smudging, flaking or fading. That’s a huge accomplishment for me! See below for pictures of the eyeliner in a makeup look. Please disregard the peeling skin! I was still recovering from my last TCA peel.





Ages of Beauty rating: *****

Product Review: Manna Kadar Blush

For the past three weeks, I have been wearing my new Manna Kadar blush in High Five. I received this in my last Wantable box. You can find Manna Kadar Cosmetics blush here. It sells for $19.00 per pot and for that price, it's a great value. The color “High Five” does not appear to be one of the choices on the website so it may be a special edition or possibly a new color.

High Five is a powder blush that isn't particularly powdery. It is soft, though, which makes it easy to load a brush and easy to apply. Between the fingers, it feels slightly silky. If you're familiar with the Nars blush in Orgasm, the color is similar but without the gold shimmer. There is a slight shimmer to this peachy pink blush but it's not overwhelming or distracting but rather imparts a slight glow to the skin.

I found that this blush wore about seven hours without fading. After seven hours, fading was minor. High Five is a lovely color which looks like natural, flushed cheeks. This brand was a great find and I love that my obsession with beauty subscription boxes is exposing me to new things. Over all, this is a great blush and I highly recommend it!

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: Buxom Sculpted Lash Mascara

I received a full sized tube of Buxom Sculpted Lash Mascara in my last PopSugar Must Have Box. Always on the lookout for great mascara, I was anxious to try it. Click below for pictures and swatches!

Product Review: OCC Liptars in Coral/Natural Colors

I wrote how much I love OCC Liptars when I reviewed the pink colors in my collection here. They are so long lasting and beautiful that I just have to show you the corals. Click below for swatches and my thoughts!

Product Review: Guerlain Meteorites Voyage Pressed Powder

Lately, I've been all about foundations and powders. I don't know if that's because Spring is here or what but I have found some great powders lately (some that I've already shared with you). One that I've been wanting to try for a long time is Geurlain's Meteorites Voyage Pressed Powder. I finally got my hands on this and I'm ready to tell you all about it. Click below to find out more!

Product Review: Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose Sparkle Eye Shadow in Lilac

Okay, I have to admit, I was scared to death when I first purchased Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eye Shadow in Lilac. Not being a fan of glitter on anyone, nor am I in favor of sparkle eye makeup for women over thirty, this one was not an easy pick for me. But I decided to take a walk on the wild side and try this one out. 

Click below for my thoughts.

Product Review: Bobbi Brown Lilac Rose Collection Lip Gloss

So far, most of Bobbi Brown's Lilac Rose Collection has been a hit for me. Now, I haven't purchased everything in the collection but I loved the nail polish while the eye shadow palette, which was a miss for some, worked for me due to my light complexion. 

What do I think of the two lip glosses I purchased from the collection? Click below to find out!

Product Review: IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye

Getting older brings one surprise after another. When I was forty-six, dark hollows magically appeared under my eyes. They weren't there the day before and I'm not sure where they came from. One day my under eye area was plump and the color even. The next day, deep troughs, the color of coal had formed. Has that happened to you?

Clearly, I needed help! Thus began my quest for the perfect concealer.

Product Review: Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

As my obsession with foundation grows and grows, it was only a matter of time before I tried Nars Sheer Glow Foundation! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!!!

Product Review: Bobbi Brown Roza Nail Polish

As I wrote on my intro post for Bobbi Brown's Lilac Rose Collection, Bobbi released a beautiful nail polish that looked like a soft and pretty addition for Spring. I purchased it, along with the eyeshadow palette, the sparkle eyeshadow and several lipglosses (reviews are coming!). What did I think of Bobbi's new nail polish? Click below to find out!