making faces :: indispensables [the basics]

cosmetics and vanity products in general are about excess and luxury, but they can become so ingrained in your life that it's hard to picture going without them. i know how to cut back in lean times, but there are a few things that i would turn to crime before giving up. here are a few, from the category of beauty basics- everyday things i use, not including colour... i think i could deal with each colour individually ::

moroccan oil :: my mother actually turned me onto this trendy hair treatment after her hairdresser used it on her. for me, it was love at first try. i would never have thought to put oil in my hair on my own [don't you wash hair to get the oil and dirt out?], but this makes my dead follicles feel amazing. the only down side is that i find it difficult to stop touching my own hair, which gets to look a little creepy after a while. [tends to be good for getting people to leave you alone on the bus, though.]
there are a lot of argan oil [which is what moroccan oil actually is] treatments on the market and it's become very popular to bash the original in favour of its imitators. nonetheless, i can be surprisingly brand loyal when i try and i'm so happy with how soft and smooth this makes my hair feel that i get a bit nervous thinking of how sad i'd be if i got a bottle of another brand and found it inferior. i'd have to work through that whole bottle before i could go back to having a happy head again. scary stuff.

lush "cynthia sylvia stout" shampoo :: it's made with stout. do you require further explanation? well, fine then. it literally gets my hair so clean it squeaks when i'm rinsing it. squeaks. my hair runs a bit dry and i find that "cynthia" leaves it healthy enough that i can actually skip conditioner if i want to [although i do put the moroccan oil on as a leave-in]. i'm consistently amazed at the healthy shine it imparts, particularly since my hair is prone to being a little dull.

shu uemura cleansing oil :: aside from my hair, about the least likely place for me to apply oil would have been my face, up until an enterprising sales associate got me to try a small-size version of one of their famous cleansing oils. i'm sold.

i absolutely love the rosemary-y scent and the fact that it works as both an effective makeup remover and cleanser, allowing me to be lazy by accomplishing everything in one step. i'm very into stuff that lets me be lazy. it removes makeup, even mascara, pretty easily and rinses away with water. it doesn't irritate my skin [which is prone to redness and patchiness if i have to rub it too hard] and, contrary to what i might have thought, it doesn't leave my skin feeling oily at all, just soft. so i can pat my cheeks when i get bored running my hands through my hair.

the bottles are not cheap [there are two standard sizes and different formulas depending on skin type], but my travel size bottle lasted me almost two months using it every single day, so you're not going to have to make the investment that often. amortised over its life span, it's actually not a bad deal at all. and remember, it's filling two roles.

body shop body butter :: pick your flavour. personally, i'm a big fan of the nut-related ones- brazil nut, coconut, almond [although i think that might have been discontinued]- but if you're not a nut nut, there are still plenty to choose from. i'm glad to see that they've finally introduced "economy size" versions for those of us who use it every day, which i do because it is literally the only thing i've found that i can apply to my freshly shaved legs that doesn't make me feel like i've doused myself with hot sauce.


made to order vegan cosmetics "revamp" :: i should have a section of this blog entitled "cool sh*t my friends do", because one of the reasons i have things to do and write about is that i generally surround myself with people who are more interesting and talented than i am. a good example is "made to order vegan cosmetics", the new brainchild of a fellow skincare natural product lover who decided that, since a lot of her favourite products were always getting discontinued, that she'd strike out and make her own.

"revamp" is a moisturiser and after-sun treatment which is a great idea in the summer, when every night basically demands after sun treatment. there's aloe and witch hazel, which help soothe and smooth skin, but what makes this a really perfect summer moisturiser for me is that it's not heavy. the consistency is like butter and, like butter, it becomes quite viscous on application. however, it absorbs within a couple of minutes and my skin feels perfect- not like i'm slathered in heavy cream. it's become the only night cream i use over the last month.

there are a whole range of products available, exclusively [for the moment] through their facebook page [linked above] and new ones are being added regularly.

so what do you always need to have around the house? what products would you secretly harvest your neighbours' organs to buy?

making faces :: hot stuff

it's hot in here. it's not you.

ah yes, it's that time of year when the sun is strong, the humidity is high and most people are a little leery of putting a layer of paint on their faces, even a light one. after all, the inclination in the summer is to remove layers rather than add them and hot, humid weather has a way of taking your nicely done makeup and turning it into something from the climax of "raiders of the lost ark" in a hurry.

if you live your life moving from one air-conditioned spot to another [home, car, office], that's very comfortable for you. but chances are that you're going to have to sit on a terrace to have a drink or visit a friend who find that air conditioning aggravates their asthma [me] or get on a bus because your brakes are being repaired. and there are a lot of people [me included] who just have to do battle with the elements every day.

no one is likely to force you to wear makeup [put on the mascara or we'll kill grandma!], so a lot of people just don't bother with it in the warmer seasons. but there are places- often workplaces- that do sort of tacitly expect that you make some attempt to hide the embarrassment of morning face and, if you're the kind of person who likes to put on makeup anyway, you're probably not interested in just stowing your collection until the mercury drops.

so, here are a few things that i find work for me... feel free to agree, disagree or add your own.

1. hot weather tends to make you perspire. i don't think anyone is going to disagree with that, but a lot of people use cosmetic products- creams, colour cosmetics, anything- that are actually intended to be quite moisturising. unless your skin runs quite dry [in which case, for once, you can laugh at the rest of us] you're at least going to want to move away from putting a lot of products on your face that are too rich or sebaceous. anything that has the keyword "glow" in it is suspect, because products that make your skin "glow" do so by imparting it with rich, nutritious oily goodness. doesn't mean you can't wear them [i've stuck it out with my nars' sheer glow foundation], but keep in mind that you'll be compounding what nature is doing to you anyway.

one thing that you can do is get yourself a nice mattifying primer. yes, it's another layer, but the whole point of these is that they help absorb. there are a lot of them around and i don't claim to have tried all of them, but nars has a very nice one that's light without being drying and neostrata in canada has one that leaves the skin feeling quite velvety. for a cheaper variant, apparently using milk of magnesia accomplishes the same goal, although i'd really recommend this only for oilier skins.

2. it's bright. again, probably not a lot of people are going to disagree with this one. the fact that you can't really do anything about the fact that you're under bright light all the time, though, means that there are a few things to keep in mind. very elaborate, detailed makeup under bright lights tends to look a bit overdone. keeping things simple- fewer shades, less blending, etc., tends to work better for me.

of course, that doesn't mean that you have to be overly subtle. under bright conditions, bold colours can really work. simple can mean one big punch in the nose of colour. 

3. heat makes things messy. makeup is certainly no exception. to get around this, i usually try not to get around it at all. bring on the mess and make it your friend. i like to do things that start out looking a little smudged and imprecise, because that way, when the heat inevitably takes its toll, it at least won't be quite so obvious. mac's sadly discontinued greasepaint sticks are amazing for this sort of work and give you the awesome sensation of literally colouring your face with big crayons. benefit's creaseless cream shadows and armani's eyes to kill powder-that-you'll-think-is-cream shadows are also very effective. essentially, a creamier product can go on looking a little blurry and inexact, but still look good. if you want to put shadow or liner over top of that base, it'll also help them last longer.

4. moisture feels good. i'm not being really controversial here, am i? but one of the things that i avoided for a long time, but now keep as a staple for everyday use is mac's fix+ spray. it purports to make your cosmetics last longer and is perfect for applying powder products [especially loose pigments] or priming your skin. i don't know that my makeup lasts longer with it, but what i will say is that it definitely keeps it looking fresher for the time it does last. it really seems to stop the fading that occurs, especially in warmer times. i also find that it softens the appearance of makeup slightly, making it look a little more natural and relaxed.

and you can spritz it on your face when you start applying and when you finish, to give an incredibly refreshing feeling. i swear i'm going to start carrying bottles of this stuff in my purse for those moments when i need something to relax me. it's probably better than vodka. well, the two go hand in hand, really.

here are a few things that i've done to my face that illustrate these points...

this is a sort of hot-weather variant on a smoky eye, where i just smudged a cream shadow over my lids, set it with a bit of a darker pigment and was basically ready to go.

face ::

nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
benefit creaseless cream shadow "skinny jeans"
mac pigment "the family crest"
mac eye kohl "smolder"
inglot e/s "352"
diorshow mascara

cheeks ::
mac blush "my highland honey"

lips ::
mac l/s "out-minxed"



here's one using one of mac's greasepaint sticks. i basically just used it all over my lid- more towards the outer corners, since that's where i like to concentrate colour- and the quickly blended a shadow over it. this actually held up remarkably well during a particularly hot day and i credit that to the fact that it looked all mussed-up to begin with. i only put eye kohl [also known as "liner", but i like to talk fancy] on my upper lash line, since, when it's really hot, it lasts less time on my water line than it takes me to apply it.

face ::

lush colour supplement "jackie oates"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
mac greasepaint stick "french quarter"
mac e/s "patina"
mac e/s "dazzlelight" [as a highlight along the brow bone]

cheeks ::
mac mineralize skinfinish "by candlelight"

lips ::
urban decay l/s "voodoo"


this is the sort of thing i was talking about in terms of using bold colours very simply. i'm kind of proud of the fact that this looks complicated, but actually took all of five minutes to do. because the colours are separated into blocks, there was really nothing to do other than just apply. they more or less blended themselves, clever buggers. i think that this shows off the lovely, intense pigmentation of the shadows that came out with mac's "surf baby" collection. there's a reason i got almost all of them.

face ::
nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
mac e/s "saffron"
mac e/s "sun blonde"
mac e/s "manila paper"
mac greasepaint stick "dirty"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
mac cheek powder [aka blush] "my paradise"

lips ::
ysl rouge pur shine l/s "blood orange"


and, finally, another more colourful look. normally, i don't do this sort of pronounced liner in the summer, because it ends up looking a hot mess in short order, but one of the nice things i've noticed about the armani "eyes to kill" shadows is that they actually hold other products in place fairly well. it's like they're having a little colour competition on my face. these photos were taken not long after application, but i was floored six or eight hours later to notice that i looked more or less exactly the same. no summer-smudging, no fading, no creasing. i also decided to take another of the dangers of summer in hand when i did this by anticipating that i was going to get flushed in the heat. i started out with a fairly bright pop of blush on the cheeks and presto- i meant to look like that.

face ::
lush colour supplement "jackie oates"
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
armani eyes to kill e/s "pulp fiction"
nars e/s "dogon" [dark side only]
mac mega metal e/s "prance"
mac e/s "all races"
mac fluidline "blacktrack"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
guerlain blush g

lips
nars l/g "strawberry fields"

making faces :: product review [lush skin care]

it's been a while now since i've gone to bed at what anyone could consider a reasonable hour. the problem with being awake at dawn every morning is that i can't really do much [because i don't want to wake up dom or my neighbours, particularly the irascible ones downstairs who don't like cats], but i feel like i have to do something or else i'm going to die of boredom.

i do try to sleep, of course. i stay supine for as long as i can, until some unbearable random thought just practically propels me out of the bed. last night, for instance, it was the sudden realisation that there are no decent tiki bars in montreal. i mean, it seems like every city has at least one place with a koi pond and drinks served in coconuts, but i couldn't think of one. [turns out that the only one is actually a kind of horrible vintage place in the east end that i now feel i must try.]

since i was up and i could already see the ravages of sleeplessness on my face, i decided to try giving myself a facial with some of the lush products that dom was given to test on himself and me before he officially starts work there. i'd already tried this once, but i figured that since my skin, like the rest of me, was really fatigued at this point, the results should be even more obvious.

NO REST FOR THE WICKED, BUT IS THERE GOOD SKIN?



step 1 :: toner tabs
toner tabs are like large vitamin pills you dissolve in very hot water and allow your skin to absorb through the magic of steam. it works sort of like your grandparents probably remember vicks working, where you fill a bowl with freshly boiled water, drop your medicine in and then make a tent with a towel [or dom's favourite damned t-shirt, which i apparently got all messy in the process and he had to clean in the sink] over your head and the bowl, trapping all the steam and opening your pores to let in the goodness.

today i tried the vitamin c tab [i'd previously tried the vitamin e], which is supposed to be good for dry and aging skin [mine is both, although all skin is aging, technically]. after about a minute, i definitely felt like my skin was "happier"- fresher, livelier, more "awake"- although whether that's because of the tab or just the benefits of holding my face over a pot of steamy water, i can't say. my skin was noticeably softer, though, which i think would be the result of the tab.

a word to the wise- store your tabs somewhere they can't get knocked around. i wasn't quite so careful and i was greeted by a lot of white powder going everywhere when i pulled the tab out of its wrapping. 

$1.95ea

step 2 :: ayesha face mask

this is one of lush's truly "fresh" products- meaning that there's a lot of vegetables and fruits in them and they'll last less time than the cheese you buy the same day. it's best to buy these in small increments, since they really don't keep that long.

i'm usually a little iffy about masks, because so often, they have a clay base which is great for sucking the oil right out of your skin, but not so great if your skin needs to hang on to the oil it has. however, this mask is exceptionally soft and gentle and is actually very moisturising. although it apparently does have some clay in it, i didn't get the uncomfortable tightness that normally accompanies playing around with a mask. that said, if you're skin tends to be oily, i wouldn't really recommend this, as i don't think it would offer the toning and balancing such skin would need. i also wouldn't recommend it if you're very picky about smells. i didn't mind the scent myself, but for sure some people will find it "funky". [it's loaded with asparagus. you can tell.]

as with most facial masks, there is a bit of mess involved and i'm assuming that it was in a fit of insomnia-induced insanity laziness that i likely dirtied dom's shirt by wiping my asparagus-and-kiwi pulp-covered hands on it.

once it's on, of course, it occurs to me that the superintendent could be coming by at any time to fix the living room window frame, which sustained some water damage and caused a nice little rainstorm in the apartment last week. if he were to arrive at this moment, he would see me sitting in front of a table with a bowl of dingy water, a lot of white powder and what looks like a pile of baby shit smeared on my face, with five very wired contraband cats [although everyone knows i have them, i've never been specific about how many of them there are] excited that mom is up to keep them company. it also occurs to me that i'm supposed to leave this mask on my face for half an hour, which means that even if he does arrive, i'd just have to kind of nod and act normal, or else my time will have been wasted.

fortunately, he didn't drop by, but just take this as a word of warning: make sure that you are going to have the time to use these masks properly [twenty to thirty minutes, not including prep and cleanup time].

$5.95

step 3 :: moisturiser

i tend to tone my skin with either orange flower water or rose water. they're cheap, i can pick them up with the groceries and i can use them for baking as well as skin care. so having rinsed, i use some orange flower water and then apply moisturiser to face and around my eyes.

for the eyes, i've been trying "enchanted eye cream", a very gentle, neutral cream with no real fancy science behind it, no magic ingredients that send micro-gnomes to rebuild your skin, but that imparts moisture to this area where the skin tends to be fragile and prone to damage. the good news is that mostly what the area around your eyes needs is simple hydration, because it's an area that can't retain moisture terribly well on its own.

i was given a sample of "gorgeous cream" to try as a facial moisturiser, which is probably meant as a description of the product, but that always just makes me think of the episode of family guy where the volcano insurance salesman tells peter he obvious bought a store full of "handsome cream". [i think that makes me peter in this situation.]

as far as i can tell, this is the most expensive item that lush sells that isn't a gift set. the cost is driven by the natural oils used, apparently and in this case, the price is particularly high because there is a greater concentration of pricier ingredients like evening primrose oil and a less of cheaper ingredients like cocoa butter. the price is horrific when you compare it to what prestige brands charge for their creams [not all of which have serious science behind them, no matter what they claim], but i think it is a leap for the average lush customer.

the good news is that you really don't need to use much product. although it's recommended for normal to combination skin, i found it quite rich for me [slightly dry to combination].

enchanted eye cream :: $24.95
gorgeous cream :: $85.95cad/ $89.95usd

you may notice that i only have one set of prices listed for most products, rather than different ones for canada and the u.s. that's because lush, as far as i can tell from scanning their web sites, maintains no differences in price as a baseline [i'm assuming that deviations from this are due to import levies on specific ingredients, although i haven't asked]. so that makes them a free trade angel on the currency gouging index. way to go lush!

my bad

all in all, while i think that those looking for products to address more serious skin concerns might want to look elsewhere [or at least include other products in their regimen], these are some excellent products for hydrating, toning and soothing the majority of skin types, without a lot of synthetic additives. if it can make my insomniac face feel revived, it should do wonders for normal people.

all products available at lush boutiques. all products except the face mask are available on the lush web site. [where you can also search for a lush location close to you.]

[editor's note :: in case it wasn't clear from my flippant intro, these products were provided free of charge, not to me, but to dom, who is secure enough in his masculinity to work for lush. i chose to review them, honestly, of my own free will.]

making faces :: product review [hourglass]

i saved these ones for a separate post, although they came as part of my aforementioned sephora haul. i'd been curious about this brand for a while, since it's still fairly new and unknown. offering a mix of luxury-level colour cosmetics and a small number of accessories, their range is narrow but classic. you won't find hot pinks or chartreuse greens in their offering, but their fans appreciate their muted, understated palette and rave about the brand's quality.

quality in this case is important, because the brand is priced on a level with prestige names like chanel and yves st. laurent. that's a ballsy move for a small company less than a decade old, but word of mouth had it that they warranted the hype, so i decided to give them a try.

SEE HOW MY HOURGLASS GAMBLE PAID OFF...



i ordered two items, one of their eyeshadow duos [they only sell shadows in pairs- six of them, to be exact] and one of their femme rouge lipsticks [available in twelve shades total].

visionaire shadow duo "prism" :: well i almost forgot to start looking at the product in the package because the package itself was so very cute. housed in a signature bronze case with a magnetic closure [i adore the neatness of magnetic closures on anything short of clothing] and a decent size mirror that swivels on a little ball pedestal. i'm not sure why i'd need the mirror to swivel, but i have a feeling i'll figure that out later on [although it did make it easy to photograph the product itself!].

of any of the duos, this one really called my name because of its obvious smoky eye potential. it's a combination of a very shimmery cool grey and a rich black with a lot of silver sparkle. these are the sorts of colours that i can wear [well, not just me, anyone can wear them, really] anywhere, and which can be made fairly subtle or quite intense. the colour payoff on both shades was impressive. just touching them with a brush picked up a lot of product but i found that i could work pretty quickly and sheer out the colour if i found it too heavy.

because of the shimmery quality of both shadows, i found it easier to work with a slightly damp brush [damp not wet] to keep any fallout from occurring. both shades were very smooth and easy to work with and made a perfect smoky-eyed combo. i found the black in particular seemed to apply perfectly with a couple of taps and really stayed put [enough that i basically used it as a liner as well]. the silvery shade was cool, but not too blue on me- i think that it will be fun pairing it with other shades to see how it "interacts" with them. there's a surprising depth to the colour and i think that the light, adjacent colours, and other factors would subtly shift how it appears.

$38usd/ $44cad [medium on the currency gouging index]
available at sephora internationally or direct from www.hourglasscosmetics.com in the united states

femme rouge lipstick "raven" :: someone is going to have to explain to me how this ended up getting named "raven", because i can imagine very little that reminds me less of a glossy raven's feather than this fiery orange-red lipstick. i'm not complaining, just a little curious.

the texture of this lipstick is described by the company as "velvet crème" [i'd also like to know at what point the word "cream" was banned in cosmetics marketing, forcing everyone to start saying it in french], which immediately brings to mind something rich, thick, intensely saturated with colour... which is about as good a description as i can give. it takes very little product to get completely opaque coverage and the lipstick feels incredibly plush with even a single swipe. dry lips will love the moisturising feeling it imparts and the fact that it does not settle into lip lines at all. i found it made my lips look instantly perfect and, of course, incredibly dramatic.

if you're not a big fan of lipstick, or prefer a lighter lipstick, this may not be the formula for you. what seems rich and luxurious to some is going to seem heavy to others, so take the description as being a pretty good indicator of what you're going to end up with. [note- this is a very intense colour, so lighter shades may not feel as heavy.]

about the only thing that i didn't like about the lipstick is an unfortunate side effect of many moisturising lipsticks- it feathered around the edges after a few hours of wear. i wouldn't say the feathering was very bad, but there was definitely some blurriness. i'd recommend using a lip liner [mac's "redd" would be an almost dead-on match] to get the best results.

other than that, the wear time seemed good- it faded noticeably after a few hours, but any colour this deep is going to leave a nice stain, even when it fades [slightly shyer maidens might actually prefer to wear it blotted, as a stain, in order to mute its awesome power].

the quality on these product definitely puts it in line with equivalently priced product. in fact, i'd say that they're as good or better than what i've seen from a lot of prestige brands. as i mentioned, the colour selections are limited but thoroughly classy. these are shades that give a feeling of luxury which, after all, is what you want from a luxury item.

$30usd/ $35cad [medium on the c.g.i.]- once you've purchased the lipstick, you can buy refills for about $5 less when you run out
available at sephora internationally or direct from www.hourglasscosmetics.com in the united states

and here's a look i did incorporating both products on a bright summer day. because i wanted to "pull" the blue tones in the grey shade, i layered mac's "siahi" fluidline as a base on the lower part of my lids. i feel it's worth noting that, skipping that step [which is a little finicky], this look can be done easily in five minutes. no fooling. i felt that the look was glamourous enough that i needed a really glamourous sidekick to pull it off...






face ::
nars sheer glow foundation "mont blanc"
lush colour supplement "jackie oates" [used as a kind of highlighter]
diorskin nude hydrating concealer "001"

eyes ::
hourglass visionaire e/s duo "prism"
mac e/s "vanilla"
mac fluidline eye liner "siahi"
mac pearlglide eye liner "black swan"
ysl faux cils mascara

cheeks ::
nars blush "new order"
mac highlight powder "honey light"
mac blush "darkly, my dear"

lips ::
hourglass l/s "raven"

and if you'd like to see something different, you can check out this beautiful look on "red lips, black hair" that features hourglass "raven" as well.

today happiness is...

a big box of goodies

trying out new crayons

making ourselves look scary in the name of research and beauty

and a cat who finds you a little bizarre at the moment...

needless to say, reviews will be forthcoming...

friday favourites 03.06.11

my feet hurt. and that's a good thing, because it means that i've had a lot of time to go walking. walking is kind of a year-round favourite with me and it's more than a little frustrating that i live in a climate where walking can be impossible or highly unpleasant for so much of the year. not this week, though! i have taken advantage of this week's sunny days [and the fact that i have a lot of time on my hands and frustrations to work out] to pound the pavement, mostly in ndg and westmount and feel content that i'm keeping myself at least a little bit active.

although i really want to avoid repetitiveness, i feel like i would be remiss if i didn't point out that the segment of last night's episode of "the daily show", where jon stewart responded to eric cantor's position on tornado relief is quite possibly the best thing they've ever done. you can watch the full episode on the show's web site, unless you're in canada, in which case you go through comedy central. the segment goes right to the heat of what i think infuriates most people about cantor's statements- not that they are ludicrous on their own, but that they are so completely hypocritical. jon's definitely on top of my "men i would chase down the street if i weren't already spoken for" list this week. it's not a big list, but it's constantly evolving.

so what about some things i haven't talked about yet?

ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT... AND HEY, THERE'S AN ADORABLE KITTEH AT THE END



a sense of responsibility :: mac cosmetics have long been associated with causes, particularly their phenomenally successful mac aids fund. now they're adding to that by collaborating with the u.s. government and other organisations to help fight gender-based violence. you can check out more from mac, parent company estée lauder and secretary of state hilary rodham clinton.

in addition, rumour has it that lush cosmetics, themselves no strangers to causes, will be launching a campaign in favour of legalising gay marriage. this won't mark the first time the company has taken on a controversial political topic- they campaigned against extracting oil from canada's tar sands, helping to spread awareness of the environmental risks associated with the project before the oil industry had even started hyping it in their ad campaigns. it's nice to see that someone at lush hq evidently has testicles the size of those ubiquitous bath bombs.

the mad monkette :: this is the sartorial equivalent of comfort food.

soft kill :: this is the phoenix risen from the flames of blessure grave. their new album "an open door" isn't exactly going to shake the foundations of music, but it's still a lot of fun [in a mopey kind of way]. perfect summer listening.

more fun with mac & guerlain [& nars & chanel & my new friend stila] :: what's the point in having a great paint set if you don't use your paints? i may have been forced by blogger to abandon my "by the letters" makeup experiment, but here are a few things i've been doing with some of the lovely things i've raved about... you can also check out my wicked tan. seriously. that's a tan.

products used ::
nars sheer glow foundation mont blanc
dior hydrating concealer 001

mac manila paper e/s
mac surf usa e/s
mac grey range e/s
nars night clubbing e/s
mac blacktrack fluidline eye liner
ysl faux cils mascara

mac my paradise blush

mac lollipop loving l/s

lush colour supplement jackie oates
dior hydrating concealer 001

guerlain terre indigo e/s palette [all 4!]
diorshow mascara

guerlain terra inca sublime radiant powder

nars mayflower l/s

lush colour supplement jackie oates
dior hydrating concealer 001

mac sun blonde e/s
mac cobalt e/s
guerlain terre indigo e/s [blue only]
stila sparkle waterproof liquid liner curacao
ysl faux cils mascara

mac my paradise blush

chanel antigone rouge coco shine l/s










but really... there's no doubt as to who is the real beauty queen on these premises...

photo by dominic f. marceau- fsquaredmediapixels.blogspot.com

thanks to everyone who took the time to read & comment. please feel free to share your thoughts and suggestions.

making faces :: product review [lush "dirty" collection]

although everyone is releasing new products for the summer season, this is a big one, since it represents a whole new [and apparently permanent] line and a set of products that are geared towards men. that's not to say, of course, that women can't use them, but there's definitely an emphasis on elements that will draw in men who are looking for ways to look, feel and smell clean. so, in the interests of giving these products a fair shake, i enlisted dom's help in testing them out.

the dirty "party pack"

the product line has several components- a body spray, hair styling cream, bath/ shower gel and shaving cream, but i highlight recommend doing what i did and grabbing the convenient little introductory box that has all the components in miniature size for you to try. [the box is $20 canadian and contains generous enough sizes of all the products to give you a good idea of whether or not they'll work for you. it also contains one product that's exclusive to the set, which i'll get to shortly.]

"dirty" is an ironic moniker, because the scents of each of the products are selected for their association with cleanliness- really squeaky, freshly washed and disinfected cleanliness. all the products are made to be worn together- so that they layer to create their own com
plex aroma replete with mint and other herbs, as well as other summery ocean-side notes. here's a breakdown of our findings.

FIND OUT OUR CHOICES FOR HITS AND MISSES...



bath/ shower gel :: this is obviously going to be the stalwart item of the collection, since it having something that smells nice during daily scrub-down is a priority for both men and women. perhaps it's because other lush products set the bar so high that dom and i were both initially a little disappointed with this one. we understood that the different scents are supposed to be layered for full effect, but this one is really one-note and that note is mint. it's incredibly bright and in your face, which is kind of nice when you're in the shower first thing in the morning, but- although you may not think that your nose can appreciate a complex scent more than a simple one- you'll be surprised at how the aroma fades almost immediately from invigorating to dull.  to be fair, spearmint isn't one of my favourite scents to begin with [although this one is natural-sourced, which makes it bearable], but dom had much the same experience. being more of a bath guy, he also tried it there and noted that having some time seems to allow the bouquet to open a little and become both less harsh and more complex. yes folks, we really put this stuff to the test in order to give you the best information possible.

as foamy as it gets

shaving cream :: in a line targeting men, this product is key and, good news for lush, it is [apparently] the hands-down super-star of the collection. being a true-to-name cream product, it doesn't lather much, which makes it problematic for those of us who do our shaving in the shower. you can't tell if it's there or not. even on the face [see photo], it's kind of difficult to tell at first how much coverage you have. however, once he got the hang of it, dom was super-impressed. it's extremely moisturising, which, for those "men's men" who don't care much how their skin feels, means that you're going to be less prone to razor burn whether or not you put something else on afterward. although hard to detect visually, the formula is quite viscous, which means that you're unlikely to cut yourself up, even when moving quickly. best of all, it was very gentle on dom's skin, which is very sensitive. it has a much more subtle scent that lingers a little on your skin if you're really trying to catch it [or if someone else is nuzzling you neck, you lucky sod], but they wisely kept the perfume toned down on this one.

perfume/ body spray :: ahem, lush, if you are trying to market a line of products to men, don't call one of them "perfume". i'm lumping these together since the perfume is really just a more concentrated version of the body spray and the end results are pretty similar. the "cleaning product" packaging is adorable on the body spray and it encourages you to use it liberally. the scent is light enough that you can douse yourself without coming off as a pimp and it does feel very refreshing. although spearmint oil is used here again, it isn't as pronounced as with the shower gel, because it's mixed with tarragon, lavender, sandalwood and other scents. as you might expect, your body's chemistry will determine which notes dominate on you. on dom, the leafy herbaceous elements really came forward and lingered. on me, the touches of salt and sandalwood came to the fore. of the two, i personally preferred how it smelled on dom, because i felt it was a little more distinctive, but either way, it's a nice, subtle scent. both of us found that the scent didn't last terribly long on either of our skins.

my un-fatigued curly-wurlies after a full day

hair cream :: if you've seen my recent photos of dom, you'll realise why he couldn't participate in testing on this one... this was actually my favourite product in terms of scent, because the cocoa butter base brought out the richness of some of the other elements. the mint smell is almost absent here and instead, my hair smelled [for several hours] like a fresh herb garden next to the sea. as a styling aide, it's marketed as a strong-hold product, which kind of befuddles me. granted, my hair is seriously thick, so it takes a lot to really hold it, but i think that, even on shorter and sparser hair, it would remain pretty flexible. that said, as a more flexible product, it's very nice to work with. i used it to separate my hair and work my natural waves into tendrils and it held for hours. i found it gave my hair that strangely coveted "day after" feel, in that the hair stayed a bit tacky and malleable, like hair that's been left unwashed for a day. i did have to use a fair amount of product to get the result you see [photo was taken after approximately eight hours split between indoors and outdoors] and, while it didn't give my hair that awful "crunchy" feeling, i was definitely aware that there was something in there. i'd place the texture as being like a very soft wax. i tried using a smaller amount just on the ends of my hair to give them a nice curl and found that it worked just fine. i was able to reshape my curls throughout the day, as well, which is always a bonus.


toothy tabs :: what the sam hell are "toothy tabs"? well, they're like an old-fashioned tooth polish and, while i don't see them replacing crest or colgate anytime soon, i salute lush for being open to trying something innovative. or retro-innovative as the case may be. essentially, these are little pills that function as toothpaste. you grind one up [don't swallow] with your front teeth and then brush as usual. i use a battery-powered toothbrush, which works pretty well at spreading the love around. i think that using these with a manual brush would be both irritating and pointless. take note :: these do not foam up at all. although they're strongly flavoured with spearmint, the star ingredient here is good old baking soda. its cleaning and polishing properties are well-established and let me tell you that after a couple of minutes using one of these, your teeth will feel like they've been sand blasted. you only need one per brushing. you can use a couple, but unless you've got some serious sabre-tooth action happening, i can't imagine why you'd need to. plus, if you use more than one, the flavour of the baking soda quickly overwhelms the flavour of the spearmint. [you'll get a hint of soda even using a single one. i actually don't mind this at all, but i can't imagine it being a selling point for most.] keep in mind that while these will make your mouth feel clean, they do not have any ingredients that will help protect against cavities, gingivitis or plaque the way a lot of commercial toothpastes do, so you might want to follow up with a more medicinal mouthwash if you want to cover your bases. some people are going to find these a bit finicky to use, but suspect they're the kind of product that will develop its own cult following. the latest in dental care from the land of britannia. 


both dom and i found things that we'd go back for- the shaving cream and the hair cream were our favourites and the body spray will definitely be re-purchased. unless you really love mint, the shower gel is a safe pass. for $20cad a pop, it's highly worth getting the gift box so that you can try everything out yourself. [note- at the moment, the toothy tabs are only available for individual purchase on line, so if you want to try them, you either have to order there or get the gift box.]

making faces :: product review [lush "colour supplements"]

ah the paradox of summer. we all want to be seen looking fresh-faced and unadorned, showing of our natural radiance and epidermal perfection, but a lot of the time, our natural, fresh complexion leaves something to be desired. turns our our ideas of natural beauty are based on a lot of images of people wearing a healthy dose of makeup [and processed with photoshop]. and so the challenge is thrown down for the cosmetics industry: make us a product that makes us look perfect and at the same time is completely undetectable to the human eye.

lush, the gurus of handmade cosmetics with rich, delectable scents, have thrown their hat into the ring as competitors in the "ninja makeup" category and, since it's about the time of year that i start looking at lighter coverage options, i looked at what they had available.



normally, i'm not incredibly eager to try out lush's face products, other than their yummy-looking [and sounding and smelling, but not tasting] masks and cleansers, because the fairly heavy fragrances have a tendency to irritate my moderately sensitive skin. what drew me in about the colour supplements, which seemed to appear out of nowhere [appropriately ninja-like] on the shelves of my local lush stores, was that, upon playing with them, i quite liked the texture and feel of the product. the consistency is fairly thick- like a heavy cream, but not greasy at all. dabbed on the skin, they blend incredibly easily and you can definitely see the "evening out" effect right away.

the colour selection confuses me a little, i must say. there are five shades- a light pink, a light yellow-olive, a medium golden olive and a dark pink plus one called "jackie oates", which is described as a pale ivory. although the light pink is described as the palest colour, i found that it looked fairly deep against my skin, so i opted to buy "jackie oates", which actually looks like it's the fairest shade. five shades isn't a lot of range, but they are made so that you can blend more than one to find you perfect shade and, at $13.95cad each, buying two to combine would still be cheaper than many other options.

according to lush, these supplements can be used as foundation, concealer or mixed with lotion to form a light tinted moisturiser. in reality, i think that it falls into the category of a light coverage foundation. it could be layered to get heavier coverage, but the fairly heavy consistency of the product means that the end result could feel quite thick.

nars sheer glow mont blanc, lush jackie oates

i chose to quickly dab some of the product on and use it like a light foundation. i used my fingers, since the texture of the product requires that it be sheered out considerably. it immediately gave me a nice, even tone with a very natural look. the sun has been bright enough lately that my freckles [i think at my age, i'm supposed to call them "age spots" now] have started to emerge from their winter hibernation and they are visible through the colour, which is usually how i separate a light coverage foundation from a heavier one. i very much liked the even, healthy appearance it imparted and i like the fact that it left my skin feeling moist but very natural- not greasy or smothered. it took very little product to produce this effect, meaning that your $13.95 investment will likely be amortised over a fairly long period.

i can't see this product working that well as a concealer, simply because the coverage is so light that it won't truly obscure anything. if you're young and have naturally good skin [lucky you], this won't matter, but if you're like me and have a couple of things you'd rather people not notice [hello under-eye issues], you'll want to keep a true concealer handy in order to take care of problem spots.

i found that the product lasted reasonably well through the course of a regular day- no sweating or swimming- and wasn't prone to fading any faster than a regular foundation.

in action

the one thing i really didn't like about it- and this shocks me considering who makes it- was the smell. on application, it was so off-putting that i almost needed to hold my breath. there is a distinct scent that reminds me of homemade paste gone bad that i found really objectionable. happily, the scent disappeared almost immediately when i smoothed the product out, but it was kind of a rude shock.

if you'd like an idea of how the coverage compares to a "real" foundation [nars sheer glow- itself a fairly light coverage product], you can check out the "colour by letters" page. in all of the photos up to and including "e", i'm wearing nars. in the "f" photos, i'm wearing jackie oates. 

overall, it's a great basic tool for summer wear. it plays well with the lotion and sunscreen i regularly wear, so it's quick to incorporate into my regular routine. if you're looking for something with even a medium level of coverage, i'd definitely look elsewhere, but for something quick, effective and invisible, it makes a pretty damn fine ninja. i wonder if it can catch arrows.

available at lush stores or online at www.lush.com.

ps- team "more like space" are also busy testing lush's new "dirty" range of products and will get back to you shortly with our thoughts.