Beauty – Page 186 – Forty, Flirty & Fabulous

New Beauty Products at Target Part 2 – NP Set by Napoleon Perdis

np-set-pasarella-mascara2 — NP Set Pasarella Mascara

Another intriguing new line at Target is NP Set by Napoleon Perdis — Australia’s makeup guru. Perdis had said that his new line is “dedicated to effortless glamour”. Inspecting the display of white and black sleek products, my first impulse is to agree with him.

I only tried a few items of this line. Some of the stand outs are the Concealer Look which gives amazing cover for my dark under eye circles and the Loose Dust Duo eye shadow that has a double ended wand, one end with a darker shade, one end with a nice highlighting shade. There are ten shade combinations for this product, so you can surely find colors you like.

The item I was most impressed with is the Pasarella Mascara. This is a conditioning, volumizing mascara that contains beeswax. It plumped up my paltry lashes and didn’t smear all day. That’s a good mascara! And for $15.00 not a bad price for a higher end product.

np-set-pasarella-lip-stain-and-plumper3 — NP Set Lip Stain and Plumper

Although I like this line, one item I tried left me cold — actually it left my lips burning and they are still red today! That is the Lip Stain and Plumper. Wow, I did not care for this product. This comes in two shades, Moon Pink and Star Coral. Both shades are very bright and candy-colored. I don’t wear either shades, so I picked the coral one because I thought it might look okay on me. It didn’t. Besides the unflattering color, this product does not apply evenly, sitting in globs on my lips and oh did it BURN! And, unfortunately, my lips didn’t show any plump for the pain. It’s been almost three days since I tried it and my lips are still sore. This is one craptastic product. Save the $15.00 that this will cost you and buy the mascara instead!

New Beauty Products at Target Part 1 – Pixi by Petra Strand

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Watch out Ulta and Sephora (and major department stores), Target has added three professional makeup artist’s product lines to their cosmetic section. These lines are NP Set by Napoleon Perdis, JK Jemma Kidd, and the one I am reviewing today, Pixi by Petra Strand. These products claim to be comparable in quality as other professional brands, and at pricing from $12.00 – $39.00, these items cost a little less than what you may find at a high end department store or Sephora.

I love the colors of packaging of the Pixi line. In pinks and greens, this line does evoke a fantasy of fairies and nature. The colors are very bright and spring-like, with a lot of corals and pinks.

One of my favorite items in the Pixi line is the Illuminating Tint and Conceal. This is actually two products, a tinted moisturizer with an SPF 20 in the tube and a solid concealer in the lid. The claim for this product is that “it acts as your moisturizer, sunscreen and tinted treatment to provide sheer coverage that makes skin appear flawless”. The formula has minerals and it features antioxidants A, C and E. I find the texture as thick as a regular foundation with great coverage. The concealer is wonderful as well, it did a great job of making my under eye circles almost disappear.

A couple of other Pixi items that I really enjoyed was the Rose Lip Treat in LipNude and the Eye Beauty Kit. A vitamin E enriched balm, the Rose Lip Treat feels wonderful and looks very natural on. The Eye Beauty Kit contains eight eye shadows and a two ended brush, one end is a shadow brush, one end a liner brush. This product comes in thirteen different kits, so there are many color combinations to choose from.

These are just a few of the beautiful items included in the Pixi by Petra Strand collection; there is much more to see. Take a trip to Target and try these wonderful items out for yourself!

It’s Prime Time for Primers!

I have to admit that I am fairly new to the wonderful world of foundation primer. The idea of it is intriguing to me. A lotion or cream that is neither a moisturizer or foundation, but will make your skin even, smooth and allow your pores to appear smaller? Could this be a miracle product?

The first primer I’ve tried was Benefit’s That Gal Brightening Face Primer. This pink-tinted cream is touted to smooth and brighten the face. As with all primers, this can be used under foundation or on it’s own. I tried it first without foundation and I loved the glow that it gave me. It’s a very fresh look. The glow is somewhat reduced under foundation, but my face definitely looked smoother. At $28.00, it’s a bit of a splurge, but worth it if your skin (like mine) needs a little refinement.

Lately I have tried two new primers. The first one is Stila’s Hydrating Primer SPF 15. I love Stila, especially the eye shadow color Kitten and my favorite mascara, Major Lash Mascara. As fall approaches, my skin becomes dryer, so a hydrating primer sounded good. The consistency of this primer is like a heavy moisturizer and, unfortunately it felt a bit greasy on my skin. Beside the feel of the product, the look was fantastic, especially under foundation. My whole face glowed and I even looked younger! Maybe this would work better once my face dries out in the winter. This product would be great for ladies with dry skin. At Sephora, this sells for $34.00.

The second new primer I have tried is Avon’s Magix Face Perfector SPF 20. Avon claims that this balm-like cream makes all skin types look flawless. I don’t know about all skin types, but this product makes my combination skin look smooth and feel very soft. Unlike Stila’s moisturizing formula, Magix gives a nice matte look that last all day. At $10.00 for the Magix Face Perfector, this is one I highly recommend!

Ulta — My New Fun Find

I’m so excited! Imagine my delight last month when I discovered that a new Ulta store had opened 5 minutes away from my house. This must be like when a junkie finds out his dealer has moved into his neighborhood! I am very addicted to beauty products!

Before this, I have only been to one Ulta store, which wasn’t nearly as nice as mine (oh, yes, it’s mine!). I love the mix of high end products with ones you would find at your neighborhood drugstore. It’s so much fun to dream of splurges why you are buying more affordable treasures.

On a recent trip to Ulta, I decided to check out their own cosmetics brand. These items are very affordable, ranging from the regular price of $6.50 US for an eye or lip liner to $14.00 US for mineral powders. But be on the lookout for sales, they often price their cosmetics for much cheaper.

I found myself intrigued by their eye shadows and eye liners. I’ve been recently into shadows with a bit of a sheen to them. The colors I chose are Gold Leaf, a shimmery medium antique gold and Pearl, an shimmery ivory shade. I used the Gold Leaf on my upper lid with the Pearl under my brow bone. I find that this is a nice day look. The only down side is that the end of the day, the colors faded quite a bit. I bet with primer underneath, they would last longer.

I also purchased Ulta’s Kohl Eye LIner in black. This is a very creamy liner that glides on easily. I used it on my upper lash line for my day look. Although this is a nice liner, like the shadow it was almost completely gone at the end of the day.

For the price of the shadows and liners, especially on sale, these are good products and I would recommend them.

The Mascara De Jour — Exceptionnel De Chanel

WOW. Not much more to say, but WOW!

Okay, I obviously have lots more to say (I do love to write!). So… lets start from the beginning.

My lashes are puny. and short. and very sparse. A mascara makes me happy if it gives me the appearance that I have any lashes at all, and if it doesn’t smear under my eyes five minutes after I’ve applied it. I’ve learned not to ask for much for my lashes, but this amazing Chanel mascara has exceeded all of my mascara hopes and dreams.

Chanel’s claim for Exceptionnel De Chanel is that it lifts, curls and gives volume to lashes with it’s revolutionary six-sided brush. Three short, soft sets of bristles are inter-mingled with three longer, stiff plastic combs.

The trick is to rotate the wand as you lift up and out while applying the mascara. This curls, thickens and lengthens my sorry little lashes. The effect is almost false eyelash-esque. I even had to get used to the feeling of such long eyelashes. Weird but very cool.

This mascara retails for $28.00 American on the Chanel website. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a worthwhile mascara splurge. Enjoy!

Hello to all Fellow Beauty Lovers!

Hi all! My name is Lorena and I have recently turned 40. Ugh, right? Not really. I have found the secret to eternal youth is a positive attitude, love (natch!) and really great beauty products. I try to always have all three with me; especially a really great lip gloss, fantastic mascara, and concealer for my under eye circles (I have 3 kids!).

The purpose of this blog is to share my love of all things beauty with others who also have this obsession. I will be reviewing the older products that I can’t live without as well as new, exciting products that catch my eye. Any feedback and reviews from readers will always be welcome.

Tomorrow I will be reviewing a Chanel mascara that I just received and maybe a few other fun products, (I’m planning a trip to Sephora in the morning)!

So until then, have sweet dreams and a beautiful morning!