November Favorites 2014

Hey Ya’ll! Welcome to SavingFace!

Guess what, it’s that time of the month again! That’s right, it’s time for monthly favorites!

What’d you think I meant?

Manicure Monday: Sally Hansen, Maybelline and Revlon Gel Envy Yumm...

Hello There and Happy Manicure Monday!!

Disclaimer:

I am fully aware that my nails are in desperate need of a fill but right now I have other things (like Christmas) to worry about that are slightly more important than the lady fingers. But I promise I'll be back at the salon once things calm down. 

I would hate for you to think I let myself go. 

Thanks for reading and remember: 

Don't Just Wear Makeup...Let It Inspire You!

Manicure Monday: China Glaze Winer Berry

Hey Ya'll, and Welcome Back to Saving Face Beauty!

Today is Manicure Monday and this past week I actually got a professional manicure.

Yumm...

I did get acrylics, so these aren’t my real nails, but I had them trimmed and rounded so they don’t look obnoxiously fake.  I’m just a classy bitch like that.

The Shade is Winter Berry from China Glaze. Because I just picked out the polish at the salon, I’m not sure if China Glaze still offers it; but the color is just a classic red. Pretty straight forward.

That's it for Manicure Monday. I hope you had a Fan-f*ckin'-tastic Thanksgiving and a satisfying shopping weekend! 

Remember:

Don’t Just Wear Makeup…Let it Inspire You!

Urban Decay Naked Palettes: Drifting Farther Out of Reach?

When the the Orginal Naked palette was released it retailed at $48. This was when it came with the dual sided pencil. 

The price then increased from $48 to $50 with the upgrade to a brush, which is the same price Naked 2 retailed for. 

During the Holiday season, the price of the Naked and Naked 2 was increased to $52 to meet the price of the newly released Naked 3. 

Just moments ago I went onto the Sephora website to research a  completely unrelated product, and saw that all of the Naked palettes are now retailing for $54!!! 

The price is the same on the Urban Decay Website. 

I guess I should feel thankful that, for the time being, Ulta is still selling them for the regular $52 (a price that I still have not fully adjusted to). 

It's been less than 6 months since the last price increase but, 

at the rate this is going, by the time Christmas rolls around again these could very well become

 $60 palettes!

 I'm not seeing any changes or evolutions in the palettes to make them any better than the previous generation. 

A price increase of the original NAKED palette from $48 to $50 with the exchange of the dual-ended pencil to the shader brush was warranted, but I don't understand why the most recent increases are. 

If anything the quality of certain shadows in the NAKED 3 are not as impressive as the shades in  the first two palettes. 

However, Urban Decay has been on a roll lately. 

I feel like this is a company that is very in tuned with the market and a company that is continually meeting the needs that their consumer base didn't even know they had. 

For example: 

the release of the NAKED Basics palette

their new line of Revolution Lipsticks

the NAKED Lipglosses

Face Powders (in both a pressed and loose form)

the NAKED Skin foundations

the new Perversion Liners

and the recent Electric Palette

Right now it seems like everything Urban Decay touches turns to gold. 

They can do no wrong, which is why the prices on everyone's Holy Grail palettes are slowly creeping up. And now, that Lorac is no longer being carried at Sephora there's no looming threat from the Lorac Pro or the Lorac Unzipped palettes on that front.

If I were Urban Decay I would be reluctant to increase the price of my most popular palettes any further. 

I feel like those who have already purchased all of Naked Palettes (or any of the Naked Palettes) are thinking to themselves:

"Well damn! I'm glad I got that sh*t when it was cheaper!"

Those who might have been waiting for, as Capt. Jack Sparrow would say, 

"The opportune moment" to make their purchase might find themselves even more reluctant to do so. 

Urban Decay has started a notoriously neutral trend that is still going strong. 

This has given rise to countless other brands releasing their own versions of Naked or Neutral palettes. This means more viable alternatives and more 'dupes' on the market with price tags that are more appealing.  

Check out these videos from Beauty Broadcast:

"Drugstore Nude Eye Favorites"

"All Eyes on Metallic Neutral Shadows"

If you've actually made it to the end of the post, thank you for reading my rant and I encourage you to leave a comment and tell me what you think about the price increase.

If you own any of the NAKED palettes how do you feel about it and do  you think it's worth the investment? 

Those opinions, even though there are a lot of them all over the internet, becomes more important every time Urban Decay increases the price to consumers.

Thanks for reading and remember:

Don't Just Wear Makeup,

Let it Inspire You! 

Manicure Monday: featuring Sally Hansen's 'Punch Drunk' and 'Big Money' - Yumm...

Hello Everyone

and Welcome Back to

Saving Face Beauty!

This is just going to be another

Manicure Monday,

which I promise I’ll be more consistent with in the future.

This week I've decided to go with Sally Hansen's Salon Manicure in 

Punch Drunk 

as the primary color.

I really like this color because I think it's a nice 'transition shade' between Winter and Spring since this a muted version of a brighter fuchsia. 

I live in the Pacific Northwest where Spring doesn't tend to manifest itself until well into June. 

Sometimes late May if we're lucky. 

Even though it's officially Spring, it's still cold, and overcast and foggy in the mornings with the occasional heavy rain and thunder storm at night

(you know, the kind that set off all the car alarms in the neighborhood at 11pm).

For some reason it just doesn't feel appropriate to dive completely into the ultra bright colors that are usually associated with Spring or the neons associated with Summer. 

But don't worry, I'll get there...

eventually. 

I also feel like Punch Drunk could be a little

Radiant Orchid-esque because

the shade takes on more of a purple undertone in person. 

I used Sally Hansen's Gem Crush in 

Big Money 

as an accent. 

*Please excuse the sausage fingers on my man hands.*

I really love this glitter formula!

It goes on opaque in two coats (instead of seven)

and it stays on easily for three weeks. 

That might be a turn off for some people, but I just like to keep the glitter on and change out the main color about once a week, or when it starts to chip. 

Then I'll only have 8 nails to worry about instead of the full set!

I know, I know. 

Not the most original or awe-inspiring piece of work, 

but i'm not very skilled or patient when it comes to the 

intricate nail art. 

So for now, this is what it is.  

Here are the rest of the products I use in virtually all of my manicures. 

Sally Hansen Strengthening Nail polish Remover - 

Besides wanting a strengthening formula, there was no rhyme or reason for choosing this particular remover. It was just the first one that I came across, and it works pretty well. 

Be Natural Cuticle Eliminator - 

I have the worst problems with cuticle over growth, and this product softens cuticles quickly and breaks them down so that you can scrape them away without having to worry so much about bleeding everywhere while using a scraping tool on dry cuticle or even nail clippers. 

California Mango Cuticle Oil - 

I bought this product at Sally's Beauty supply, and it does the job well, but I remember that is was a lil bit on the expensive side. 

There's an apricot cuticle oil that I keep running into at Walmart that easily contains 5x or 6x more product and is less that $5. 

So given that alternative I probably won't continue to repurchase this cuticle oil when I run out of it. 

OPI Original Nail Envy - 

I like to use this as a base coat because it doubles as a treatment. It's okay, and it gives me peace of mind knowing that I'm at least trying to do something to strength my nails, but I haven't noticed any real difference, which kind of sucks considering this stuff is $17-$18 a pop! 

There are other cheaper nail strengtheners out there that probably work just as well. 

And if you're that concerned about your nails, consider a biotin supplement. 

Orly Spritz Dry - 

When I first started using this product, I wasn't painting my nails regularly and wasn't familiar with what the average dry times was, but I did know that I am an impatient person when it comes to that kind of thing, so I got it and it's been working great for me. 

The one time I did not use this product I noticed a major difference in how much longer I had to wait for my nails to dry. 

Keeping that in mind I would say that this product cuts down trying time by about 50% for me. 

In addition this acts as a conditioning agent to help moisturize the skin around your nails so that there's no waisted product, and, as the picture illustrates I like to use this between every layer. 

Out the Door Top Coat -

Self explanatory, its just like Seche Vite but half the price.

That concludes this weeks Manicure Monday!

Hope the season 4 Premiere of Game of Thrones last night was a kick ass as I imagined it would be.

Thanks for Reading and Remember:

Don't Just Wear Makeup...

Let it Inspire You!

FrankieRose Cosmetics

Hi Everyone!

Welcome Back to Saving Face Beauty!

I was recently introduced to a new makeup brand (at least a brand that's new to me) when this video popped into my feed about a week ago. 

Frankie Rose Cosmetics carries products for Eyes, Cheeks, Lips and Face. 

The video really intrigued me, and I think I might be purchasing a few items form this brand in the coming months, but since the price range is in the mid-range to high-end I'll have to prioritize my order.

I'll link some standout  products down below in my luvocracy page if ya'll want to check those out. 

Or if you've tried Frankie Rose yourself and any recommendations (or warnings) I'd love to read your opinions on that as well. 

For a list of intriguing products please visit this link:

luvocracy.com/savingface/collections/frankie-rose-cosmetics

and

Feel Free to Creep on me:

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Luvocracy

and subscribe to my Blog!

Thanks for reading and Remember:

Don't Just Wear Makeup...

Let it Inspire you!

NYX Dark Circle Concealer Review

Hello All

 and Welcome Back to Saving Face Beauty!

This past weekend I went to Ulta because I had, not one, but two $5.00 off coupons that were burning a hole in the back pocket of my dark-washed skinny jeans.

I spent a lot of time at the NYX display, so expect several review of new NYX products coming up to be on the look out. 

The NYX Dark Circle Concealer comes in 4 colors: 

Fair, Light, Medium and Dark. 

When I first heard of this product I was immediately reminded of the Benefit Erase Paste concealer. 
This product from NYX, however, has more of a pleasing texture. 
It is thin, light and creamy. 
While the Benefit Erase Paste in comparison is still creamy but is also thicker and...Pastier!

Let me insert a blurb about this concealer form the NYX site:

"A serious solution for one of beauty’s most challenging problems! No fancy names, just a product that can be counted on to do the job. The product glides on without looking thick or obvious. Coconut oil provides intensive moisture and ensures no caking. The subtle hint of orange counteracts the appearance of dark circles, while natural skin-toned pigments work in unison to provide the ultimate coverage."  
- Someone that works for NYX 

This concealer is nice and moisturizing which, let's face it, is a Godsend at this time of the year. 
It's definitely one of those products that works best with a finger as opposed to using it with a brush as it gives way nicely to the heat of the fingers and therefore blends nicely into the under eye area. I was impressed because this product looks a whole lot more like skin than a lot of other concealers I've come across. That quality I would probably attribute to the coconut oil. 
If your dark circles are really prominent, perhaps try using this in junction with another concealer. You might try mixing it in with the NYX Full Coverage concealer to give it more of a corrective quality, or layering it under a brightening concealer.  

Even though its nicely pigmented it's not high coverage by any means. 
I had to really build this product up under the eye to achieve a satisfactory outcome. 
(That being said, I have really bad dark circles that make me look like a Panda). 
If you have really bad dark circles, like I do, I find that this product layers well. I noticed minimal creasing after about 4 layers of product whereas I would notice it after one layer of just about any other concealer. 

How I Use It
On those days when I'm going for a high coverage look to the skin, I like to use 2-3 layers of the Dark Circle concealer first and then foundation second, finishing the look off with a light brightening  concealer. That seems to work pretty ok. 
On days when I just want to look normal, I layer the Dark Circle concealer over a BB cream and run out the door with a tube of mascara in my hand. That seems to work out pretty ok too. 

The harsh truth is there is probably nothing in the world, now or in the future, that will ever fully disguise my dark Panda Bear circles. However this concealer from NYX does a pretty good job at making me look like I haven't just been in a bar fight. 
For that I would gladly pay $6.

However, I couldn't get this product to produce a favorable outcome with just one layer. And if layering and mixing and putting necessary effort into your makeup just isn't for you, maybe this is something you'd rather pass on. 



Get to Know me By checking me out on:

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For a list of all products mentioned click on the link below:

http://www.luvocracy.com/savingface/collections/nyx-dark-circle-concealer
Thanks so much for reading and Remember:

Don't Just Wear Makeup...
Let it Inspire You!

Wet 'N' Wild Fergie Viscous Varnish High Shine Lip Stain Review

Welcome Back!

Sure hope everyone's doing well.

As most of us know, the Wet 'N' Wild line offers some pretty outstanding products for more than reasonable prices. However, the reality with every single brand of cosmetics is that there are going to be some duds. Wet 'N' Wild is one of those brands where I feel the number of duds and 'so-so' products is greater than the number of outstanding products.

As for the Viscous Varnishes? We'll just have to see. 

I stumbled on to these lip products in a Walgreens shortly after New Year's. They were included in a Fergie display along with several new shades of a "water resistant" pencil eye liner, which I passed on. 

As far as I know, such displays still exist in Walgreens. 

I picked up the two nude colors in:

 A305 Legendary Face, a creamy pinky mauve, 

and

A304 Giving Realness a creamy light pink nude.

Let's just get something out of the way before we continue the review:

I don't know what's up with the name selections on these lip colors. I feel like that's something Miss Fergie Fergs had creative control over. 

When I picked these up I didn't realize what they were intended for, I just assumed that they were lip glosses. when I started to experiment with them I layered Legendary Face over one of Wet 'N' Wild's new Balm Stains in 'Rico Mauve' (review coming soon) and was immediately thrown off by the texture.

The texture of this Lip stain is very thin and liquid-y. But has surprisingly good color pay off. After being applied they dry quickly, but still retain a shiny finish on the lips 2-3 hours after application, depending on what you're doing and whether or not there is food involved. This product reminds me a lot of the Revlon Color Stay Liquid Lipsticks. They, like the Viscous Varnishes, are deceivingly  packaged just like lip glosses. However, its very thin and liquid-y upon initial application; and since this is meant to be a long wearing product, the Revlon Colorstay will dry within minutes of application and literally stain your lips...forever if you let it. That being said, the Colorstay dries matte, would benefit from being layered with a gloss or balm and will look disgusting over dry, cracked lips. I find that the Viscous Varnishes are uncomfortable to wear on their own because they are drying, but the point of the product is the long-wearing glossy finish it gives so I like to "prime" the lips with something really moisturizing.

Besides the fact that I find it uncomfortable to wear, the product performs very well. You do have to re-apply every 2 hours or so to keep it looking fresh, but if you wanted to keep a traditional lipstick and lipgloss combo looking fresh, you would have to touch up more often. 

Like I said, I only picked up the nude colors and I find they both stain just fine, and I expect that more colorful shades will show up even more intensely. 

I will continue to use the ones I have in combination with other products, but the drying factor is a deal breaker for me so I will not purchase anymore. 

I give this product a 

B+

for performing as marketed.  



Thanks for Reading and Remember:

Don't Just Wear Makeup...
Let it Inspire You! 

TRESemme Platimun Strengthening Heat Protect Spray, Therma Silk and Oscar Balandi Review and Comparison

Back Story:

Originally, I was really skeptical because I have naturally curly hair, and the first ingredient in this spray is water. In case you’ve been hiding under a rock your entire life: water and curl DO NOT mix…EVER! 

Or so I thought. 

To me, using a heat protectant with a high concentration of water just seemed really counter intuitive. A year and a half later I’m perusing target and decide to pick it up because the two protection sprays I’m rotating between right now are just not working out for me anymore.

The Comparison:

The two sprays I have are both oil-based as opposed to being water based like the TRESemme. Therma Silk, the one I’ve been using for years, is a very light-weight and liquidy oil as opposed to being a thicker, goopier texture. It protects just fine however, my hair doesn’t absorb the oil, which means my hair isn’t receiving any moisture during the heat application process. It just sits on the surface looking greasy and stringy. It essentially takes on the look and feel of ten-day hair as opposed to hair that has been freshly washed. What’s up with that?

A couple months ago I picked up another dry oil heat protectant from Oscar Balandi by recommendation of NikkiRothBeauty from YouTube. I had really high hopes for this product because it met my prerequisite of being oil-based, it claims to protect hair from temperatures up to 450 degrees, it came in a aerosol can that sprayed a fine mist of product as opposed to the water gun effect, and the product itself is light enough for white girls to use without looking like a grease ball. Long story short, I was excited to try it, but I was NOT excited to buy it. The retail price for a full size is $23. A Travel size is $11.

My thoughts: “Holy Sh*tballs! This sh*t better make my hair look like a Korean pop star’s!”

…

It didn’t.

 I honestly didn’t notice a difference between using this product and not using anything at all. It didn’t seem like it was doing any protecting, especially since it made my hair smell like I left something in the oven for too long. In the end I think my hair is just too thick for the Oscar Balandi to make a difference protection-wise. True, I could use more product, but I would be going through it like crazy! There are lots of other ways I can think of to spend $23.

However I do think it would work better on thin hair.

I needed something that would protect my hair, moisturize and leave my hair with a nice touchable (non-greasy, non-stringy, and non-burnt) finish. And the TRESemme Strengthening Heat Protect Spray does all of those things! Who knew I would have found my salvation in a water-based product? I’m part black and my hair, in its natural state, is just as kinky as the next chick’s, but this spray, partnered with a good straightener and a steady hand, gives me –dare I say- white girl hair? Right now I look like could be some kinda Mexican chick. I like to use this alone to re-straighten or touch up my roots or any frizzies as needed. When I’m straightening my hair after having washed it, I like to use this first, apply heat, and then follow up with pure argan, coconut or jojoba oil as a moisturizer.  The result is definitely worth the $5 price point. I can even use this product by itself, without any heat, as a light moisturizer during the day or at night.

I truly think I’ve found my hair’s soul mate.

Yumm…

Manicure Monday! OPI, Out the Door and Sally Hansen

Hi Everyone! Welcome to Manicure Monday!

Today I’m only using one shade of color, but that’s okay cause it’s a bright color. In addition I’m using my usual Out the Door topcoat and a new base coat.

On my nails I’m wearing OPI’s Dim Sum Plum. This is a magenta, or a mid-toned berry color with a warm purple base. This color has  the standard cream finish.

Right now I’m in that awkward seasonal transition phase where all of the excitement of the Holidays has already passed and i just feel like I have to retire my deep vampy colors, my oxbloods, and my glitters, but i’m already tired of wearing nudes. I’m ready for spring to be here and I find that this shade is exciting and bold enough to be visually interesting, but at the same time deep enough to wear in these awkward transitional winter months.

Now that I’m looking at it, it’s a nice color to wear for Valentine’s Day too.

I have on my usual Out the Door as a top coat and two coats of Sally Hansen Triple Strong Strengthener as a base coat, which is the new treatment product that i’m using as a base.

I used acetone to remove some acrylic and and glitter and was concerned that my nails would be soft and brittle. The directions for the Triple Strong treatment advise the use of two coats that are to be left on the nails for three days, after which the two-coat process is to be repeated.  So far so good. Next week I think I’m going to be starting, what I like to call, the two week nail detox with the OPI Nail Envy.

V-Day Nail Tip:

If you think he’s gonna propose, maybe go for something nude-ish. A couple of nude-y shades I’m loving right now are Charity and Addison from Zoya. When you take those instagram and FaceBook pictures to announce your engagement pictorially, you want the attention to be on the ring, not your nails.

New From the Drugstore: Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Erase vs. Benefit Porefessional

Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone's having a good one. And what better why to start a new year off right than to raid the drugstores for half-priced Christmas candy!

Oh...I mean brand new cosmetics. 

Over the past week I've been accumulating kind of a ridiculous Drugstore haul, and this is the first review on one of the products I picked up. 

Hope you find this useful enough to make an informed purchase. 

The Run Down:

Baby Skin Price Point: Around $7. 

Baby Skin Claims: instant pore eraser with blur technology, Claims to give the appearance of pore-less, smooth-looking skin. 

Amount of Product in Baby Skin: 20 ml.

Porefessional Price Point: $30

Porefessional Claims: To fill pores. 

Amount of Product in porfessional: 22ml

Besides the obvious price difference in these two products there are some other notable differences:

The Porefessional is tinted which may help in terms of hiding subtle discoloration or color correcting for lighter skin tones but can be a little ashy on tan and deep skin tones. So if you're of a darker skin tone, I imagine you would have to wear it under makeup to hide the fact that certain areas are ashy. The Baby Skin is clear so you have the option of wearing it under makeup or just by itself, making it a nice option for men who have notable pores and pre-teens or teens who are going through the dreaded puberty but might not be wearing makeup yet. 

The baby skin gives you options, and I like options.

The nature of my skin is very dry. I remember the first time I used the Benefit Porefessional I hated it because it felt kind of clogging, which makes sense because it's essentially meant to fill in tiny holes in your face, but aside from that, it also clung to my dry patches and accentuated them. When I put foundation on top of, it looked even worse. However, I know a lot of people with combination and oily skin really like it because it does a really good job at filling in their pores and giving them a flawless finish. I acknowledged the fact that this product does do great things, just not for me. 

The Baby Skin pore filler has a silkier texture whereas the Porefessional feels a bit drier. After letting the Baby Skin sit on the face for about 3-5 minutes after application and my skin felt so incredibly smooth! I'm beginning to think there's a reason Maybelline decided to call this product Baby Skin. I don't know if the silkier texture would be a problem for those with oily skin, but at least with my experience, after it has time to set into the skin there is no feeling of excess oil or moisture, but at the same time isn't drying and doesn't cling to dry patches. 

The Verdict

I like this product. I Actually wasn't planning on it, or using this on myself, but I think that's exactly what I'll be doing. I would definitely repurchase this when I run out of it. 

Before I tried this product I would have recommended Porefessional to women with large pores and combination to oily skin, with a side note that on deeper skin tones it will look ashy if not covered with some kind of foundation.

I would recommend Baby Skin to anyone who has problems with large pores or wants to try Porefessional or who wants to experiment with a cheaper, but comparable alternative. 

Other Similar Products

NYX Pore Filler - $13 

L'Oreal Miracle Blur - $20-$25 depending on your drugstore. 


Product Links:
Luvocracy.com

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Remember:

Don't Just Wear Makeup,

Let it Inspire You!