Senna Cosmetics

Let me start off with saying Senna is such an underrated brand! It's sad it's not talked about more! I remember first finding out about Senna when I was in college. The Macy's downtown had a Senna counter and that's where I got Senna's kabuki brush, a blush in Charmed, and a gloss in Kissy. Then one day it was gone and I was heartbroken because my in-law's dog had chewed through my makeup bag and got my kabuki, which was the softest thing ever.

Fast forward to today where I am a web shopping aficionado who doesn't have the time or patients to deal with snotty sales people or crowds. First of all, I was impressed by Senna's quick shipping at a reasonable cost of shipping and handling...unlike some places ***cough**nordstroms**cough*** Also their CS is fantastic because they respond quickly and courteously. I also love how they keep you informed every step of your package's way to your doorstep.

Anyhow, on to the good stuff. I ordered the feather brush #15, the full size kabuki ($25), and the new blush in hue...but the goodies don't stop there! I got gwp of a FULL SIZE glisten powder in peachie, a FULL SIZE lip scrub + spatula, and a big bag of skincare samples!!! This totally made my day.

So onto my thoughts........

The kabuki isn't quite what I remember..it's not as soft and it's a little "poke-y". I wonder if there's a difference between the kabuki and the mini kabuki brush, and if I had the mini vs the full size before. Hm.....Anyhow, the feather no.15 brush is really soft, though I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but just swiping it along my eye, it feel fabulously soft.

The lip scrub is Aaaaaaaamazing! The pot is rather tiny, but you only need a tiny bit and your lips are flake free and feel oh so plush after the scrub. It smells really nice too, a nice vanilla-y/foody sent.

The blush is hue is lovely as well. It's yet another nude, everyday kinda blush to add to my collection. I can never have too many of those! It compares to my NARS Doceurs blush, but when swatched it looks to have much more pinky tones that the NARS which swatches on the nude/brown tone side.

The glisten powder is in the shade peachie. Such a pretty pinky peachy shad. It looks really shimmery in the pan, but don't worry you won't look like a disco ball when you put it on your face. It just gives a nice subtle ethereal glow.

Birthday haul!!!! NARS NARS and some more NARS

Oh how I love thee NARS! From your sleek and chic packaging, to the beauty that lies within.

So I have been really un-interested in the past few collections from NARS....until I saw the fall collection! And holy moley they *FINALLY* came out with a new blush, doucers, after eons. I *think* Doucers is french for pleasures and boy is it a pleasure to wear! It's a gorgeous nude blush that isn't too brown, too pink and definitely NOT orange! Yay! It's my perfect nude blush. :D

I also got NARS Rajasthan duo from the fall collection. It looks so beautiful! I was thinking about the other duo as well, but it seems like the pale side was too frosty and light and the other side was too cool toned and steel blue for my liking so I passed.

I also got NARS Habanera the most beautiful duo ever!! One side is a gorgeous soft sea foam green and the other is a spicy green-ish dark brownish shade, so unique!!!

And last but not least, I got a promotional 3 lipgloss mini set of Risky Business Moon Fleet and stolen kisses. The minis are tiny but oh so cute and oh so portable!

Comparison: MAC Virgin Isle CCB vs BB Cabo and Calypso Coral

Long time no see everyone!! I've just been really busy with some stuff, but hopefully things will be settling down soon so yay! :D

Summer is quickly coming to an end, so I figured I'd do a swatch comparison of my favorite summer coral cream blushers: MAC Virgin Isle, BB Cabo Coral and BB Calypso coral. They are all similar and within the same color family, but I do think they are different enough to own all three. (Or maybe I'm just trying to rationalize it to myself.)

In my opinion Cabo coral is the most different from the three. It's much more "subtle"/nude coral as compared to Calypso Coral which is a bright corally pink and MAC Virgin Isle which I find is a corally orange.

FYI: MAC Virgin Isle CCB is availible ONLY at MAC Pro unfortunately. HOWEVER, it did come out in a collection a while back and can be found at some of the Cosmetic Company Outlets.

MAC Gold Mode vs MAC Blonde's Gold

It has been said that gold mode pigment and blonde's gold pigment are dupes of each other. However, now that I have both, I must say they are NOT the same. They are similar, but they are different enough to own both...or so I say.


Gold Mode: Texture is a little chunkier. It's much more shimmery than BG. It's also a much brighter gold in my opinion than BG. Much more "night out" while BG is like it's softer more daytime safe sister.

Blonde's Gold: Finely milled. Smooth and easy to apply/blend. A nice shimmery beige-y gold neutral. My go to for ever day looks.

Hanae Mori No. 1 ---- A Review

And so my perfume addiction pushes on full force. The new Hanae Mori perfume is my latest addition to my collection. It was, to be quite honest, an impulse buy even though I feel that perfumes are one of those things that make for terrible impulse purchases. A perfume needs to be worn around for a bit before so it can fully develop and you can go through it's wonderful....or terrible stages.

At any rate, onto the good stuff. The perfume bottle shape is the same as the original Hanae Mori perfumes, but the juice is a delicious lilac-y purple and No. 1 is inked into the back of the bottle in a traditional Japanese calligraphy sort of way. The perfume only comes in a 3.4 fl. oz bottle and retails for $95.00. Also some of the proceeds go to a clean air and wind something or the other. Good causes = 2 thumbs up :D The sales associate at Nordstrom told me that No.2 will be blue with aquatic/marine notes. Fortunately that is not my kinda thing so YAY!

So part of me is kicking myself for impulse purchasing this perfume as it does smell veeeeeeeeeeeeeery similar to Givenchy Hot Couture. Though I did a spritz of each on opposite wrists and they don't really smell exactly the same. (The notes are indeed similar though as noted below.)

NOTE COMPARISON:

Hanae Mori No.1 - bergamot, black currant, grapefruit, mulberry leaf, blackberry, jasmine, raspberry, white musk, sandalwood, amber and vanilla.

Hot Couture -

• top note: Bermagot, Orange, Raspberry

• middle note: Magnolia, Black Pepper, Vetiver
  

• base note: Sandal, Amber, Musk

They have a similar rich juicy sweet raspberry theme in the opening. However I find the opening sweetness of Hot Couture to evolve into a sharper spicy bite whereas Hanae Mori maintains the original burst of sweetness and creaminess. Hanae Mori No.1 also opens with a similar ripe raspberry sweet scent and has a interesting citrusy zing to it. Then it mellows down into a sweet vanilla cream on me with a lingering berry sweetness. Strangely, I find this very fleeting on me, which bothers me particularly since the price is rather steep. I honestly expected it to last longer than 10 min.... Ok fine, I exaggerate...a little. Also, the sillage isn't very robust and it sticks close to the skin (on me at least). I suppose it's not bad for the summer since I really don't want something overly sweet for the heat of summer. I did notice however while I was working out, that it intensified the smell which was a pleasant surprise.

Closing Thoughts: Overall I do like this perfume as a nice, lighter alternative to Givenchy Hot Couture, but I honestly don't know if I would have bought it had it not been an silly impulse purchase.

Hot off the press!!!! NARS Multiple Tints!!!!!!

OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!! I was beyond excited when I first found out about there new Multiples. Being the NARS addict that I am, I bought all 3 of these gorgeous limited edition multiples.

I got all three of the shades untried of the NARS website because I figured I couldn't go wrong with something with "tint " in the name. I'm really glad I got these because these are absolutely awesome! They have a gel like consistency so they are very smooth and glide onto the skin easily. However, they are slightly tacky once applied on the cheek like the Tarte cheek stains, but I like the consistency/feel of these better than the Tarte ones. They are also on the sheer side as the term "tint" implies. However, I find that the "sheer gel" makes it all the easier to use. Due to their gel like consistency, I find I don't need to use fingers or brushes with these. I just dab dab dab like a rubber stamp on my cheeks then a little blending with my fingers = perfection. I absolutely ADORE these and am so happy I got them!!!! While I doubt I'd ever run out, I am sad that they are indeed limited edition :(

So with out much further ado, the grand un-veiling!
All pictures are in the order as follows: Beveryly Hills, Turks & Caicos, Cadaques

Color Descriptions:
Beverly Hills - watermelon flush
Turks & Caicos - soft flushed peachy/coral
Cadaques - soft yet bright cool toned slightly neon pink

Swatches:

And on my Turks & Caicos on my otherwise bare face.
As compared to the regular line NARS multiples. As you can see, the Multiple Tints (packaging-wise) is much bigger than the regular line Multiple.


Product-wise, the Tints have 1 more gram of product than the regular line Multiple. They both retail for $38.00 usd.

TRESemme Fresh Start

Lately I've become more frugal and have been browsing the aisles of the drugstore rather than my usual haunts. I have been washing my hair every other day as my hair has been suffering from dryness. On those no wash days, I have been using TiGi Rockaholic dirty secret dry shampoo (6.3 oz. retailing for approximately $19.00) and Klorane (3.2 oz retailing for $18.00). I found these to be both rather price-y and was ecstatic to find a cheaper alternative.




I found the following coupon (I am in no way affiliated with TRESemme or the coupon site. Everything was purchased with my own money.):

http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?bt=vg&tqnm=zdvnedb13159742&o=62587&c=TR&p=o79TZ8sR



I went to Target where I found the dry shampoo and refresher hair mist as a pack for about $4.00. So I got 2 sets for $4.00 which is an AWESOME deal. The TRESemme line has a dry shampoo for straight normal hair as well as a waterless foam shampoo for wavy/curly hair. (I picked up the dry shampoo for straight hair.) The line also has a refresher mist and no-frizz cream. On their site TRESemme says of the product:

- Formula with Mineral Clay soaks up excess oil and impurities to leave hair looking refreshed. - Contains Citrus Extracts to neutralize odor and enhance clean feeling. - Volumizes oily/straight hair that becomes limp in between shampoos, giving hair added body and bounce. - Perfect for color-treated hair, it reduces the need to wash as frequently, which prevents color from fading. I found the smell to be quite pleasant as I do love citrus. I didn't find any noticeable volumization of my hair but it was enough to get rid of the 2nd day oilies. It definitely works well enough to keep my hair from looking un-washed which is all I need. Not to mention it's at a price you can't beat!