May 2014 Favorites

Time for some favorites for the past month!  Let's get to it.

Clarins Liquid Bronze Self Tanning (review) -- I've been using this every other night to give me some color on my face and décolleté.  It's light and milky, and feels kind of refreshing.  A great, gradual self tanner.

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation -- True story: I needed a new foundation to match my newly self-tanned face, and I didn't want to spend too much money on one because I wasn't sure how often I was going to self-tan, or even if I was going to like doing it.  So, I went to CVS and looked for the cheapest (or close to it) foundation and discovered this one for $6, plus I had some Extra Bucks, so it cost me $2.  I hadn't done any "homework" on it, so I was buying it with only having read the ingredients on the back (I liked the fact it has titanium dioxide for sunscreen).  I took it home and immediately slapped it on my face, and discovered it was a light, liquidy, comfortable foundation with light to medium coverage.  It was a win!  I've been wearing it almost everyday, and think it is rather great.  The packaging, however, leaves something to be desired.  It is a glass bottle with no pump that is narrower at the bottom than the top, so it is quite tippy.  Chance of me spilling it: near 100%.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder -- I have already repurchased this powder.  It gives a nice finish to the skin, doesn't look powdery, and it isn't drying.  Inelegant packaging, but whatever.  It works.

Too Faced à la mode Eyes -- This palette has nothing but shimmery shadows, so I have to supplement it with matte shadow from somewhere else, but I don't mind.  The colors are so springy/summery and just feel right for this time of year.  My favorite colors: Jardin (shimmery peach), Cannes (shimmery and sparkly copper), and Soleil (shimmery plummy brown).  De La Mer (shimmery navy blue) makes a great liner color.

MAC Lipglass in Water Deities from the Alluring Aquatics Collection -- This is a very shimmery "light bronzy pink" (according to MAC). It has the signature Lipglass vanilla scent and tacky texture that makes it long-wearing.  Gorgeous color.  Pretty packaging doesn't hurt either.

This is only a small part of the garden!

My Garden! -- The garden is looking lush and full now that all the plants are up.  Plenty of spring flowers have been blooming over the past month, and it's really fun to see what blooms when, what starts growing when, and where I need to add more plants!

I'd love to hear about some of your recent favorites!

Neutrogena Shine Control Powder Review

I always use a setting powder, and since I recently ran out of my Sephora matte powder foundation, I thought I would try a lighter powder for summer.

Neutrogena says:  Neutrogena® Shine Control Powder helps skin stay shine-free and fresh-looking all day. The lightweight powder with patent-pending rice protein technology acts like a sponge to absorb excess oil and instantly eliminates shine for a fresh look that lasts for 8 hours. Layers invisibly over makeup with a matte finish.

Honestly, I'm not sure what a rice protein complex is or how it works, but it sounds kind of like cool technology and an interesting ingredient.

I'll be finishing this one soon, and I definitely will be  repurchasing it!

This is a translucent, lightweight powder that mattifies without looking chalky.  I like using this with a large, dense brush when setting my makeup, but the included flat, spongey puff also works well.  It is a fairly slim compact, so it is really easy to carry with you for any needed touch ups.

My skin  is usually pretty shiny/oily after I apply my makeup since I use Josie Maran's Argan Oil (which I love) and usually just Stila's tinted moisturizer (which I also love).

I use this to set my makeup after my tinted moisturizer, and it keeps me pretty much shine-free for about 6-7 hours, which really excellent, in my opinion.  I get a little break through shine on my forehead, but most days I don't feel like I need to even re-powder anything and just blot my forehead (if I'm going out in the evening, I'll touch up my makeup and reapply).  I've recently tried the Maybelline Dream Matte powder, and I definitely see a lot more shine much earlier in the day when wearing it, so I know the Neutrogena powder is doing a good job of controlling oil.  It doesn't look chalky or powdery and feels very light on the skin.  It is completely translucent, so don't expect any kind of coverage from this.  It doesn't feel at all drying, like some powders, so I think any skin type could wear this happily.  It gives the skin a beautiful finish that isn't overly matte.

This reminds me quite a bit of MAC's blot powder, but I used that so many years ago that I could be remembering it wrong.

unblended swatch

blended

I'm quite impressed by the Neutrogena Shine Control Powder and definitely recommend it for a translucent setting or touch-up powder, especially for anyone with combination or oily skin.