The Dark Side Diva’s New Face

By now you all know my love of both high end and drug store makeup, especially foundations. Well I have rediscovered a new/old product that I simply adore! Several years ago I worked for Lancome when they launched the Teint Idole line. At the time I was hooked on their Photogenic foundation, which I still love to this day. The TI was ok for my skin, a little lighter coverage than I would have liked and, by the end of the day my face was a little shiny. By the time they came out with the TI Ultra Wear version, I had moved on to other beauty pursuits. But after seeing a couple high profile beauty influencers using it, I decided to give it a try. TI Ultra Wear claims to be a long-wearing, 24-hour foundation — claims that get me every time. Seriously. Who in this galaxy wears their make up for a full 24 hours? I decided to try it with the new Fenty Beauty Invisimatte Blotting Powder and Morphe’s Continous Setting Spray. Here are my thoughts…

I got the TI Ultra in shade 110C Ivoire, which is the third lightest shade and it’s a perfect match for my skin tone. It blends beautifully and covers all my pores and redness. It was very comfortable to wear and didn’t transfer. The Fenty powder set the foundation nicely, is completely translucent and undetectable. It didn’t cake or settle in my fine lines and pores. It does come with a flat puff, but I prefer to use a big powder brush, so I use one from IT Cosmetics. I will certainly keep this powder in my bag at all times. I finished with the Morphe Continuous Setting Spray. This product is a dream! It’s a fine mist that comfortably sets your face and doesn’t drench certain parts of it. It’s also the kind of spray that you can use several times throughout the day if needed and won’t ruin your makeup. And it doesn’t have that toxic smell like so many other setting sprays do.

This new threesome has made my skin bulletproof from shine, pores, caking and all the other unpleasantries that can happen during the day. Recommend trying this trio I do!

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear $47

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Invisimatte Blotting Powder $32

www.sephora.com

Morphe Continuous Setting Spray $15

www.morphebrushes.com

Anastasia Beverly Hills Prism Eye Shadow Palette

Over the summer of 2017 you couldn’t get away from the ABH subculture controversy. I’m not going into that, or the fact that I just might be the only person in this galaxy who is not impressed with the Modern Renaissance palette. I was however, impressed with the limited edition, Holiday 2017 Prism palette. It’s a truly gorgeous, 14 shade collection of what I would call very wearable neutrals, metallics and a few pops of color.

The shades are very pigmented and it’s easy to blend out the colors. I’ve created several beautiful looks using them both wet and dry. There is some kickback but if you use a light hand it’s not bothersome. A couple colors had some tiny fallout, but for easy blending and gorgeous colors I can tolerate that. While at first I thought I was only going to be able to create dressy looks, I’ve been able to come up with a lot of very neutral, daytime looks. And it actually comes with a very nice, double-ended eye shadow brush that can be used with other products. It’s not just an afterthought. I have used it with my ColourPop shadows and it blends them out nicely as well.

I consider ABH to be one of the classier prestige lines on the market today. I highly recommend the Prism palette. At $42 it’s about the same price as other palettes that you can find at Sephora, but this one is limited edition so it won’t be around for long. Pick it up while you can!

Boots No7 Stay Perfect Foundation

I’ve never tried any Boots No7 products. But I saw this foundation while I was cruising through Target, and decided to add it to my collection.

I chose the lightest shade, Warm Ivory, but unfortunately it’s a still too warm for my pale complexion. I can make it work with a lighter concealer and no-color setting powder, but I really wish they had just one shade lighter.  This formula tends to oxidize so that makes it even harder for me to deal with during the day.

I had high hopes for this foundation, as it claims to last up to 17 hours. I’ve only gone about 4 hours before I needed to powder my entire face. It does give me a nice, even, light to medium coverage (more of a lighter-medium coverage if that makes sense). It’s not the worst foundation I’ve tried, but at $15 a bottle, a disappointing shade range and only a couple hours of a shine-free face I can say that in all probability I will not be purchasing this again. I will be trying this out with other makeup setting sprays, so I’m not taking out of my rotation just yet.

While I was at Target I noticed that Boots No7 has quite an impressive line of products. Have you tried any? What are your thoughts on this line?

Summer 2017 WalMart Beauty Box

It’s that time again! Just received my Summer WalMart Beauty Box. This season’s theme is “Radiate Your Beauty. You are a force to be reckoned with.”  Isn’t it ironic?  Here’s what I got for the $5 shipping fee.

5ml of Palmer’s Coconut Oil Facial Moisturizer. No parabens, mineral oil, glutens, dyes or sulfates. I’ll be interested to see how it does under makeup during the humid Western Pennsylvania summer!

1ml of Palmer’s Coconut Oil Luminous Hydration Facial Oil. Same “No’s” as above. I’m a huge fan of facial oils, love to use them as my last step of night time skin care. They can also be used to salvage hard, dried up cosmetics. This product has 9 natural oils in it:  extra virgin coconut, Tahitian monoi, sweet almond, macadamia, argan, grapeseed, maracuja, sunflower, apricot and sesame. Same concerns as above – Western PA summers are not always a girl’s best friend.

5 count package of Pond’s Original Fresh Makeup Removing Towelettes. These are a cult favorite of several You Tube beauty gurus that I follow constantly. I cannot wait to try these, but I’m putting them aside for my vacation. They’re going right in my beauty train case.

5ml of ROC Multi Correxion 5 in 1 Chest, Neck and Face Cream. I’m way late on the Retinoid bandwagon, so this is an excellent way to try it. I even convinced my Mom to give me her sample!

1.7oz of Pantene Daily Moisture Renewal Shampoo and Conditioner. Pantene products can go either way for me, but it’s a nice, convenient size that is also going in my train case. If my hair falls out on vacation I’ll have no one to blame but myself!

1oz of Banana Boat Dry Balance Sunscreen lotion. I’m taking this to Lake Erie soon. It says it has a soft matte finish, 80 minutes water resistant and skin breathes easily. As important as sunscreen is (the MOST important beauty product in the history of beauty products) it can be a pain to find one that doesn’t irritate your skin or make you break out. I have high hopes for this as Banana Boat is a well-respected brand.

You truly cannot go wrong with these Walmart boxes. It’s nothing fancy or high end but well worth the $5 price tag. The sizes are large enough to give you ample time to test them out to see how they are going to work for you.  They ship four times a year and are all seasonally based. I definitely recommend giving these a try!

Silicone Beauty Sponge

As Diva of the Dark Side, it is my duty to inform you of THE most worthless beauty product that I have fallen for and completely regret. It looked so interesting that I had to go for it. You’ve seen these jelly-type beauty sponges out on the market, touted as the new “be all, end all” sponge for us beauty junkies. This beauty enthusiast couldn’t wait to get it and try it. Got it and tried it. WTF!!! I’m not going to waste a lot of our time on this horrible contraption. It’s a clear, jelly-like silicone sponge that is flat on both sides. Maybe it was my older, textured skin, fine lines, and/or large pores. I don’t know, but all this sponge did was smear my foundations (various brands and finishes) around and not blend at all. No matter what I did, it was an utter disaster. Instead of creating a flawless finish, it created a huge mess and my face looked hideous. It’s supposed to help you use less foundation but that’s a gimmick.

This does not and will not get the Dark Side Diva seal of approval. As much as I love trying out new beauty goodies, pass on this DS Devotees! I’ll stick to my beauty blenders, foundation brushes and even dollar store triangle sponges. Young, unblemished skin may have better luck with this sponge, but it will never have a place in my galaxy.

A universal dud!