(Dior Cleansing Gelee for Face, Lips and Eyes)

I have disliked almost all the cleansing creams that I have tried. Most of them either are too thick to manoeuvre (too much massaging involved) and/or leave some greasy residue. But Dior‘s Cleansing Gelee for Face, Lips and Eyes is one of the very few cream-based cleansers that I like. (I used a couple of 7ml trial samples before and I was glad to get a 50ml one from a gift with purchase.)

It has a very pleasant light-cream texture. With minimal massaging, it melts into a watery lotion consistency. It rinses off nicely and does not leave a greasy film. I still use a little bit of face wash after that, but I’d think some people probably don’t need that extra step as the cleanser does leave the skin quite refreshed.

It did remove lipstick and waterproof mascara when I tested it on the back of my hand (I tested it on Maybelline Volum’ Express Waterproof), but I usually still use an eye/lip makeup remover before using any cleansing gel/cream. (I don’t like any massaging/rubbing in my eye/lip area.)

This product is alcohol-free but contains fragrance.

Generally, I still prefer a cleansing oil, which is quick and easy to use and removes everything at one go. But if you are looking for a light gel/cream-based makeup remover for this summer (and are not sensitive to fragrance), this can be a good candidate.

Related Posts:

Can’t Live Without – RMK Cleansing Oil N

Simple Moisturising Foaming Facial Wash

Johnson’s Eye Makeup Remover

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From the Splendicity community, comes this week best in beauty, fashion and shopping.

FASHION

Painfully Hip suggests the perfect havoc-wreaking ensemble for the next time a wild streak sneaks up on you.

Wardrobe Oxygen offers some tips for a woman in her ’30s to perform a proper closet clean-out.

The Well-Heeled Society interviews Shoe Designer Mark Schwartz about his journey from being the protégé of Roger Vivier to his website launch of High Heeled Art.

Snarkstress wants your opinion on Jessica Simpson’s latest look: Is she hot…or not?

Teen Style Lounge has found 3 pairs of double-duty cuties that will take your footwear wardrobe from summer to fall.

BEAUTY

The Fragrance Fanatic suggests some great gift sets exclusive to Nordstrom’s Beauty Exclusives sale.

Beautiful Makeup Search says to Ban the Bumps with Bikini Zone. She is so excited about this product that she is giving away five tubes of this fantastic cream.

Aging Fabulous says that she is in dire need of this neck cream from StriVectin.

Beauty Blogging Junkie has identified her holy grail concealer. Find out what it is here.

Beauty Banter uncovers the secret powers of ZINC… in sunscreen!

Beautyholics Anonymous discovered the joys of Too Faced’s Shadow Insurance. Bye bye crease lines!

15 Minute Beauty Fanatic found a great liquid makeup from Tarte, but hurry, it’s Limited Edition!

Beautynomics interviews PCA Skin Head Scientist/Dermatologist Dr. Jennifer Linder about PCA Skin and gets to learn alot about skin care!

Steeping Beauty gets cleansing with NARS balancing foam mousse.

SHOPPING

eye4style gives in to a guilty fashion pleasure -Tori Spelling’s new jewelry line for HSN. Check it out here!

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(From left: Sheer Matte Blush in Touch of Plum and Sheer Rouge,
Triple Split Shadow in Bistro and Venice,
Matte Eyeshadow in Charcoal)

The recently launched Thevi Cosmetics aims to provide makeup colors that suit people of all skin tones, particularly those with darker complexions. However, for those of you that have a fair skin tone, you can benefit from some of these items that I am reviewing below if you usually go for well-pigmented makeup items.

Triple Split Shadow (in Bistro and Venice)

Both trios include a highlighter, a shadowing shade and a lining shade. Upon looking at the colors, I thought Venice, with what appeared to be a muted medium beige pink, would suit me better than Bistro. But I was wrong.

The two shadowing shades in the trios are moderately pigmented and have a soft and flattering shimmery finish, but they go on warmer than they look. The beige pink in Venice goes on too warm for me, but the greyish-looking beige in Bistro doesn’t show up greyish on me and the soft beige-brown finish looks very natural.

The highlighting and lining shades in Bistro are very well pigmented, and the gold highlighter has quite a metallic finish. The deep brown and pale beige pink in Venice, on the other hand, seem uncharacteristically sheer.

Matte Shadow (in Charcoal)

I find this to be a great multi-purposed item. It is a good matte eyeshadow if you want the classic smoky-eye look. It can go on sheer as a light grey or heavier as a very dark grey. The silky powder is also suitable for lining the eyes and, again, the color intensity is adjustable. I also use it as a brow powder since I have black hair and brows (and need a brow powder that is grey-based rather than brown-based). A light-handed application can create defined but natural-looking brows. (In comparison, this shade is greyer than Medium Ash in Anatasia’s line reviewed earlier.)

Sheer Matte Blush (in Touch of Plum and Sheer Rouge)

“Rich” and “vibrant” are accurate descriptions of these blushers on Thevi’s website, as these are not “sheer” (as the name suggests). The matte Touch of Plum is a rich warm pink (which looks darker than it does on the photo above), while Sheer Rouge is even darker and warmer and has a hint of shimmer.

Both are very pigmented and have a pleasant texture. I think the finish is what Thevi sets out to achieve, as I’d imagine they can really show up on and complement darker complexions. (I have a light-to-medium skin tone, and I have to be very light-handed with them.) Overall they are worth a look if rich pigments in blushers are what you are looking for.

(Note on packaging: All Thevi’s eyeshadows and blushers are housed in very sleek and compact cases. But some of the lids are quite tight and I think they can be hard to open for people with long nails.)

Related posts:

Makeup Review: NARS

Coffret D’Or Trance Deep Eyes in Rose Variation

Lavshuca Summer Gradually Compact

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Weekend Beauty Reads for July 27, 2008

by PJ on Saturday, July 26, 2008

in Weekend Beauty Read


From The Beauty Blog Network:

The Makeup Divas reviews Mac Solar Bits in Black Ore and Scatterrays.

The Daily Cookie is celebrating her first reader newsletter with a GIVEAWAY! Sign up and enter for your chance to win a Kat Von D True Romance Beethoven palette for you and a friend.

Beauty Anonymous reviews Dior Bronze Matte Sunshine SPF 20 Bronzing Powder.

Elke shares how you can get creative with your makeup. Have the makeup? Now what? Read for her fun solution.

15 Minute Beauty Fanatic gets the low down from Makeup Artist Molly Stern on her favorite brushes and makeup items!

The Muse rocks out with the new Bare Minerals Rocker Eye Kit and shares product photos, a review, and FOTD using this great new kit from BE!

Beauty Banter asks the makeup pros all you’ll ever need to know about STAINS – how to apply, when to wear, and which ones are the best in this month’s A Girl’s Guide to Stains!!!

The Beauty of Life is giving away products from Bliss and Farfalla, worth over $80!

Beauty Junkie in SF finally has clear, beautiful, break-out free skin with the help of Jan Marini Skin Research.

What beauty product put Beauty411’s glow on? Check out her review of Kate Somerville Deep Tissue Repair!

What kind of eyeliners should you invest in? Cybelesays recommends four you don’t want to be without right now.

Beauty Blogging Junkie has identified her holy grail concealer. Find out what it is here.

Can’t find the perfect mascara? Makeup Moxie thinks the new Lash Stash from Sephora might be your ticket to true love.

Karen from Makeup and Beauty Blog sits down with Sarah Jessica Parker and gets the skinny on SJP’s newest scent, Covet Pure Bloom.

Listen up, curly girls…for this week’s giveaway, Spoiled Pretty is partnering with world famous hairstylist, Ouidad – “The Renowned Queen of Curl.” Click here to enter!

Want their favorite combination for gorgeous hair? The girls from Beauty in Real Life deliver the scoop.

StyleBell discovers a long time secret of the stars, Klorane Dry Shampoo!

Beauty and Personal Grooming asks you to trim those ugly dangling nose hairs using nose hair trimmers.

Beautynomics interviews Dr. Jennifer Linder, PCA Head Scientist/Dermatologist and asks all about skin care!

The Mineral Makeup Blog thinks that Mineral Makeup can qualify as HDTV Makeup.

makeup loves me interviews the founder of a new makeup line, noir cosmetics.

Shades Of U shares a fresh, new, refrigerated idea in skincare featuring products from The Body Deli.

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(image from www.suqqu.com/japan.html)

SUQQU has updated its website to feature the fall 2008 collection, which will be released in Japan on August 8th.

Does the image above remind you of Lunasol‘s Red Purification collection? SUQQU’s red-themed lineup draws inspiration from the rich warm red that has figured predominantly in the Japanese culture for centuries. The collection includes:

– Eyelid Base (1 shade)
– Dual Eyeshadow (5 variations)
– Blend Cheeks (1 new shade)
– Blend Lipstick (3 new shades)
– Gloss & Lip Color (3 new variations, limited editions)
– Eyeliner Creamy (3 new shades)
– Mascara (3 versions: Volume N, Long N, and Volume Long N, all in black)

(SUQQU Dual Eyeshadow)
(image from www.suqqu.com/japan.html)

So far, none of the items has been calling out to me. But, as usual, I am very impressed by SUQQU’s visuals, which present a sophisticated mix of traditional and modern elements. They always leave a lasting impact and this is part of what sets SUQQU apart from many other Japanese brands.

(Outside Japan, SUQQU is available in Bangkok and London. Please see the list of retail points on SUQQU’s international site.)

Related Posts:

Japanese Brand Profile – SUQQU

A Class Act: SUQQU Creamy Lipstick

Foundation Face-Off – Jill Stuart vs. SUQQU

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Anastasia Product Review (2)

by PJ on Thursday, July 24, 2008

in makeup, makeup - eyebrow

(From top: Tinted Brow Gel,
“Go Brow” Brow Pencil/ Highlighter,
Brow Filler, Perfect Brow Pencil, and Brow Wiz)

Last week, I reviewed Anastasia‘s 5-Piece Brow Kit and Eye Lights. Today I am focusing on some other items from the brand.

Brow Wiz and Perfect Brow Pencil (bottom of the photo) are the basics in Anastasia’s range. Both shades you see above are in Medium Ash, which would be the closest match if you have very dark or black hair. The thin and retractable pencil in Brow Wiz is good for precision-filling and needs no sharpening, while Perfect Brow Pencil is the traditional type of brow pencil. Both are softly pigmented so I think even people who can be heavy-handed sometimes (like me) can slowly build up the intensity and get a natural finish. Both come with a brush for blending.

Brow Filler is for people who need more serious filling. The brow powder is automatically loaded on a sponge-tip when you screw-open the cap. (The design is similar to that of some eyeshadows.) The powder is very pigmented and I would suggest removing the excess first and applying the powder light-handedly. If you want to save time and use this to do the whole brows, you are likely to end up with a heavy-browed look. (This item is currently available in one version, with Blonde on the one side and Brunette on the other.)

On the other hand, Go Brow is all about saving time. The product features a brow pencil on one end and a brow highlighter on the other. It is available in one shade only, and Anastasia claims that the brow pencil suits all brow colors. (Overall it suits my dark brow hair well.) The shade itself is a cool medium brown, and this is the only brow color reviewed here that has a hint of shimmer. I think the shimmer is precisely for making the shade suit more people. (The actual color is darker than it looks in the photo above, and I suppose it appears lighter here partly because of the shimmer.) The other end of the pencil is a matte and slightly pink-toned brow highlighter, which is the same as the Eye Lights Matte reviewed last week.

Lastly, Tinted Brow Gel works similarly to the Clear Brow Gel in the 5-Piece Brow Kit but it comes with color and shimmer. The shade in Caramel that you see above goes on quite light. The gel dries up very quickly and the color stays true throughout the day and doesn’t flake. It would be a suitable color if you have blonde hair or if you want to tone down your brow color.

(Products reviewed here that are not available on Anastasia’s official website can be found on Sephora.com, which also features a how-to video.)

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(Lunasol Noble Shade Eyes for fall 2008)

Lunasol has updated its website to include information on the fall 2008 Red Purification collection.

According to the writer of this blog post, the overall finish is a lot closer to that of the Scent Form Eyes series from fall 2006 and is very different from the shimmery look of Geminate Eyes (fall 2007) and Sheer Contrast Eyes (spring 2008). The overall eye makeup look echoes what Lunasol used to be like a couple of years ago, which is sophisticated and low-key. It makes sense to me, since the key emphasis for Lunasol this season is on the red lips.

The collection will be available in Japan on August 22.

Related Posts:

Lunasol Summer 2008 Collection

Lunasol Full Glamor Gloss in Bright Pink

Foundation Face-Off – Coffret D’Or vs. Lunasol

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My post on Anna Sui’s fall 2008 makeup collection has been updated to include two images of the Makeup Color Collection D. Do have a look, particularly if you are considering getting this luxurious item.

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(Coffret D’Or Trance Deep Eyes in Grey Variation)

Two weeks ago, I talked about Rose Variation from Coffret D’Or‘s Trance Deep Eyes series for fall 2008. Today I am reviewing Grey Variation.

Grey Variation features a cool lilac as the shadowing shade along with a medium grey for lining the eyes. The four colors are (clock-wise from top-left):

A off-white (sheer, mildly shimmery)
B cool medium lilac (moderately pigmented, shimmery)
C medium-to-dark grey (well pigmented, luminous matte under the sparse shimmer)
D off-white silver (moderately pigmented, very sparkly)

(As with Rose Variation, all shades have fine multi-colored shimmer and a good staying power.)

(Please click on the image for a larger version.)

Compared with Rose Variation, Grey Variation is my preferred one since the cool medium lilac brings out the dimension of the eyes a lot more. This dimension-enhancement is twofold:

– The lilac is darker than the warm dusty pink (the shadowing shade) in Rose Variation. The dusty pink can be a little too subtle, particularly for the evening.

– The lilac’s tone changes when looked at from different angles (while the depth of the color remains the same). When seen straight-on (as seen in the photo), the lilac has a cool tone. However, when seen from the side (when the palette is held almost horizontally in front of my eye-line), the shade takes on a slightly warmer tone (particularly under sunlight). But I didn’t manage to really capture the difference on camera. (There is also such a tone variation with the dusty pink in Rose Variation, but it is extremely minimal.)

What is great is that this tone variation also shows up when worn and it gives a good eye-sculpting effect (even when the color is worn lightly). (But please note that this variation is different from (and much subtler than) the iridescence that we see in, for example, Lancôme’s L.U.C.I. collection in spring 2008.)

(image from www.kanebo-cosmetics.jp/coffretdor)


(Coffret D’Or TV commercial, via YouTube)

It is also worth mentioning that this palette does appear similar to Maquillage Clean Contrast Eyes 2 in SV844. However, the lilac in the Maquillage palette is quite pale and is a lightening color, whereas the lilac here is darker and performs as a shadowing shade.

As I mentioned, at the moment I prefer Grey Variation to Rose. But, compared with Purple Variation from the 3D Lighting Eyes series, I think I still like Purple better and I’d say I like Grey as much as I like Gold.

Overall I am quite happy with the two I have from the Trance Deep Eyes series. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was also considering Beige Variation. It is still on my shopping list, but not anywhere towards the top. There is no limited edition in either of the two palette series, so for now I’ll look forward to spring 2009.

Updated on September 4th, 2008:

Please check out this blog post for swatch and FOTD photos of this palette.

Related posts:

Lunasol Sheer Contrast Eyes in Lavender Coral

Chanel Quadra Eye Shadow in Stage Lights

A Splash of Color – More Lilting Lilac

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Beauty Duty for July 22, 2008

by PJ on Tuesday, July 22, 2008

in Weekly Beauty Duty

Enjoy!

Beautiful Makeup Search got burned – see what cooled her down!

Kristopher eats the “Unforbidden Fruit” of Miami’s South Beach.

Makeup Moxie reviews Lip Lust by Pop Beauty.

SugarShock Beauty is indulging in a little Chocolate Decadence, courtesy of Estee Lauder’s new fall collection.

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