Tag: eyes

Avon Eyeliners

Watching a makeup tutorial the other day, I was blown away by the Avon eyeliners, particularly for application right in the lash line.  I had to try them out for myself.  I test-drove the MVPs of their extensive liner lineup – Extra Lasting liner and glimmersticks.

Extra Lasting is a classic liquid liner.  For the full inky line, it requires two swipes.  But I actually find this preferable.  You are able to correct and customize the line.  After a minute or two of drying time, this liner is NOT budging.  You absolutely get the promised 12 hours of wear. In fact, this rivals the staying-power of any liner I’ve tried, no matter the price point.  It took quite the scrubbing with eye makeup remover to get this swatch off my hand.  Extra Lasting liquid liner is $9.

Glimmersticks are a retractable, self-sharpening pencils.  They don’t have the staying power of the liquid liner, but are pretty impresive for a pencil.  These are perfect for a smudged eye line and dramatic lashes.  These are now on sale for $2.99 – perfect excuse to pick up all five colors.

Bare Escentuals bareMinerals READY™ Eyeshadow 4.0 The Truth

I am back on the Bare Escentuals bandwagon! Bare Escentuals’ new bareMinerals READY™ Eyeshadow 4.0 is bringing me back to a brand I thought I had grown out of 10 years ago.  I haven’t used Bare Escentuals since my San Francisco days when I had a store just down the street from my apartment.  I loved their mineral makeup, especially for my early-20s skin, but once my skin moved into its drier stage, I started experimenting with other brands.  Thanks initially to a really catchy song on the commercial, bareMinerals The Truth Eyeshadow Quad gained a place on my vanity,

The Truth quad is a subtle, neutral palette.  The shades, Serendipitous, Magnetism, Fate, and Apropos, are a graduated range of taupe that would do well on a wide range of complexions.  I have been laddering the shades from lash line to brow, darkest to lightest.  Blending the adjacent shades, you can achieve this really natural looking, smokey eye.  The shades are a perfect balance between matte and iridescence, making it perfect for day time wear.

The powders have a smooth, creamy texture, powdered with SeaNutritive Mineral™ Complex.  This stuff, oddly, contains cold-pressed borage oil, caffeine and cucumber.  I never thought I would get excited about “borage oil” but, along with these other antioxidants, it can depuff the eye area.  So the creamy powder can actually make your eyes look revitalized from the inside out!

Retro Style

Retro revival has been inspiring me all year and I decided to collect some of my favorite products to recreate the look. Yesterday, I picked up Red Revival lip color from Maybelline.  It is so incredibly hydrating and long-wearing.  (side note: I also recommend Fifth Avenue Fuchsia)  The application is creamy, but highly pigmented.  What a great color range!  And the price, great excuse to pick up two or three!

For the eyes, my first step was a rediscovered favorite: Laura Mercier Tightline Cake Eye Liner Black Ebony.  I spray some Shu Uemura Depsea Water Facial Mist in Bergamot on the Laura Mercier Flat Eyeliner Brush, a couple swipes on the cake, and tuck the brush along my lash line.  Don’t drag the brush , just press and repeat until you have covered the entire lash.  The look is definining and demure – but utterly sexy.

A bold brow is the cornerstone of the retro look, and requires a brow pencil.  My favorite these days is Le Metier de Beaute Brow Bound Eyebrow Pencil.  It has a gel consistency and I work it onto the hairs rather than the skin.  I blend and tame flyaways with the brush include on the other end of the pencil. 

Dramatic mascara extends the pigment from the lash line through the lashes.  Lancome Hypnose Custom Volume Mascara adds just the right amount of volume.  A little highlighter like the gorgeous Lumière Sculptèe de Chanel Highlighting Powder on the inner corner of your eyes and cheekbones and you are set!

Le Metier de Beaute Fall/Winter Kaleidoscope Eye Kit – GIVEAWAY

We all want to know: “how do I create a smokey eye?” It is the beauty question of the decade.  I’ve searched high and low for kits, palettes and individual shadows and concluded Le Metier de Beaute developed the best kit to achieve the smokey eye.  The colors are stunning, it is goof-proof and translates from day to evening. 

I met with Le Métier de Beauté while I was in New York for Fashion Week for a Fall Trend event.  Mikey Castillo, Le Métier de Beauté’s Director of Color and Education, featured the Fall Silk Road Kaleidoscope.  It has to be noted that these shadows are quadruple-milled – and this basically translates into incredibly fine, blendable shades.  They appear on the eye much less vibrant as they do in the pan.  And I think this is a good thing.  No need to be intimidated by the bold colors – the look is actually quite neutral.

While these shades definitely can be used on their own, I am sold on the Le Métier de Beauté signature eye shadow application technique, “Couches de Couleur”.  “Couches de Couleur” is the layering of color, each hue is selected to evoke one element in a sequence of crescendo: 1. Warm 2. Cool 3. Hot 4. Cold.  I use a flat, small eye shadow brush and press in each color from my lash to crease.  If I want a more “daytime” look, I skip the final color or only use it right along my lash.


Le Métier de Beauté usually releases these Kaleidoscopes each season, and I have yet to be disappointed.  By this Fall’s version is a stunner and by far my favorite.  Fall Silk Road Kaleidoscope was inspired by the silk, satin, spice and jewels of the Silk Road in the Far East.

  • Tapestry—a shimmering, translucent plum.
  • Damask— a polished brass.
  • Ikat—a silk-matte pinot noir.
  • Brocade—a deep chocolate with sequined copper effervescence.

The spread the love, I am giving away one of these kits (retail value $95) to one of my readers.  How can you enter to win this contest?

Leave a comment on this post.  Make sure to include your email address.

To earn extra entries:

1. Follow this blog (through an e-mail subscription or though one of the many Google readers – see sidebar at right) or by subscribing to my newsletter.

2. By tweeting this contest. You must include “@bellebellebeau” (without the quotes) and the contest title in your tweet. Only one tweet will be counted as an entry.

3. “Like” me on Facebook.

4. Share the contest info on your Facebook Wall.

The deadline for entries will be Saturday, October 8, at midnight central time. The next day, I will use a random number generator (random.org) to select the winner. I will e-mail the winner on Sunday. The winner will have 48 hours to reply to my message and provide a shipping address. After 48 hours, the prize will be forfeited, and another winner will be selected.

This contest is open to anyone anywhere however, I cannot insure the prize for overseas shipment.

UPDATE: We have a winner! It is Jenny aka @FashionistaJR. Congrats!

Dior ‘Diorshow Maximizer’ Lash Plumping Serum

I am having a week of rest and renewal with my parents in town.  And I figured my lashes deserved a little break while we were at it.  I have been mascara-free since Monday – I know, Shocking! 

One reason I was intent on giving my lashes some tender loving care, is they have really been through the ringer.  I decided to give eyelash extensions a try earlier this summer.  It was only a partial application, but they destroyed what were really nice and full lashes.  Where the extensions had been applied, the lashes were broken.  Now, this is not a testimony to lash extensions in general.  It is my experience (and I sure as heck won’t go near them again).

So, back to “Project Lash Renewal”.  I always have liked Dior Show mascara, so when I was playing at the counter last month, the Dior ‘Diorshow Maximizer’ Lash Plumping Serum jumped out at me. 

The formula is light weight and actually white in color.  It is easy to get a full coat on all my lashes.  The hydrolyzed soy proteins go to work, conditioning the lashes.  This  promotes long-term lash growth and strength.  Over the last six weeks, my lashes are well on the road to recovery.  They do actually look fuller.  But I am most impressed that I can really sense they are once again healthy.

Chantecaille Gel Liner Pencil

I am a sucker for innovation.  So, it wasn’t tough to get me to try the first ever gel liner in a wooden pencil format.  Add in an amazingly high quality brush on the other end and I was sold.

Chantecaille recently released this pencil in two colors: Jet and Hematite.  Jet was stunning, but the smokey, metallic grey called my name.  The color is quite dark, and full of pigment.  But it is a great alternative to black.  You definitely can detect the silver/grey when applied, but its effect is still inky.

The application is exactly like a gel liner applied with a brush.  There was no pulling, but the application lent to precision.  Flipping over to the other side, the brush was perfect for fine-tuning and striking the perfect mini-wing.

Just like other gel liners, the liner stayed like a champ all day.  And there is something so retro and rewarding, sharpening that wooden pencil, old-fashioned style.