Lise Watier's Summer 2012 Summer Sunset Bronzing Powder

This limited edition bronzer retails for $35 CDN - a little bit hefty, if you ask me. It is part of Lise Watier's Summer 2012 limited edition collection. It can be purchased wherever Lise Watier products are sold; I picked mine up at Shoppers Drug Mart. Each bronzer contains 11 g of bronzing goodness. These products can also be found at www.lisewatier.com. 

Lise Watier describes this as follows:
Five summer shades that blend perfectly with a brush to illuminate the face and neckline with a soft, golden hue, recreating the perfect summer tan! They also describe the bronzer as one that "radiates health."


I had to pick up this bronzer after reading beautiful Miss Tracy's review on it at Beauty Reflections. The way it warmed up her complexion sent me reeling to the nearest Shoppers Drug Mart to wrap my greedy little paws around this summer delight.


Bronzers are products that I usually splurge on. It's difficult to find 'just the right shade' for my pale, neutral-undertoned flesh, so paying the extra money for a bronzer that will be worth my while is essential. I find that the bronzers I 'invest' in are usually the ones that I tend to use on a daily basis and 'hit pan' on first. When I saw Tracy's post, I knew this bronzer would be perfect for me. And man, I wasn't wrong... 


I have mixed feelings about the packaging. While it is really cute and quite unique, it's a little bit bulky and somewhat impractical as far as packaging goes. It is essentially a puffy little clutch number, with a push-open clasp. The inside features a full size mirror with the bronzer, and a little travel-sized brush. After you use up the product you can pop out the plastic inserts on both sides and use the compact as a mini clutch of sorts. I used it as a money 'satchel' this year at Stampede and it worked really well. The pattern on the packaging is bright, fun and definitely summer-y.

The brush is quite soft, and I have used it for on-the-go application. It blends product, but takes more effort because of the small size. It's functional, though not my first choice when it comes to applying the bronzer in the best way for my face shape and skin type. 

The bronzer itself (obviously the best part) is made up of 5 various shades. The bars are of assorted sizes and finishes. When swirled together, the bronzer gives off the most beautiful peachy golden bronzed shade. Lise Watier's website suggests focusing your brush on the brown shades and applying them to the high points of the face, while then focusing your brush on the pink shades and concentrating them on the apples of the cheeks. 

This bronzer is not matte, but it's not glittery or even 'shimmery.' I would put this one in the category of 'glowy' bronzers - ones that make you appear to be glowing from the inside-out. I don't find that the shimmer in this bronzer settles into my pores, exaggerating their shape at all, which is a definite bonus.


I love this bronzer in that when I swirl my brush in all of the included shades it doesn't come out overly brown or orange in tone, but rather has a peachy golden hue that perfectly mimics a natural tan on my pale skin tone. I find that this bronzer has a similar finish and tone as the Tarte Mineral Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess, that I talked about here.


This bronzer is so smooth, and moderately pigmented. It's not 'too' pigmented, but definitely not sheer. The pigmentation is buildable, which is fantastic. The powder blends like a dream, so if I apply too much or put it in the wrong place, it's easy for me to correct.


This is a product I'm using almost every day. I find that it warms up my face just enough and helps me too look more even (my body has a tendency to look WAAAAAYYYY darker than my face) and less albino. I love this product so much I even bought a backup for the sad day when my first one runs dry...

Pre-bronzer.
I'm only wearing my Marcelle BB Cream in Light/Medium

Bronzer added.

Can you see the glow on my cheek??

The only downside, I've found, to this bronzing powder is the fact that the various bars of color seem to wear-down at different rates. I don't want to run out of a certain shade of color before I'm done the whole powder itself, so that's the only real peeve I have about the product (aside from the steep cost). I'm not 100% I captured it in this photo, but here's what I'm talking about:

Can you see how the middle brown shade is significantly deeper than the pink
shade adjacent to it?

All-in-all, I think this is a fantastic product and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a peachy, golden bronzer. I think this particular bronzing powder would work best for light to medium skin tones, though I could see it being a beautiful highlighting powder for those drop-dead gorgeous dark-skinned ladies as well. This was my first Lise Watier buy, and I'm so impressed I'm considering trying out a few of their other products if the opportunity ever arises... It is a little pricey, but if you're looking for quality and something you'll use every day without fail, I'd say...


GO GET YOU SOME... seriously.
Run, don't walk. It's limited edition and won't be around forever... *tear*


5 out of 5 fabulous stars.
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What's your favorite bronzer?!

I be haulin' - 05.28.2012 Summer goodies!!

Hola my beauty lovin' babes!!


Sorry for the long-ish absence. I've been so busy with work and cleaning the house, reading the 3rd book of the Hunger Games trilogy, and studying for my spring courses, I've had little time to write up blog posts. But I've recently found some inspiration as I got a few goodies over the past few days, and feel compelled to share in this little haul...


#1. Marcelle BB Cream in Light/Medium.
I picked this up recently after looking high and low for a decent drugstore tinted moisturizer-esque alternative to liquid foundation. Don't get me wrong - I still love the Revlon ColorStay foundation, I'm just looking for a lighter alternative that's easier to slap-on-and-go in the mornings before work.

#2. Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment with SPF 15 in Rose and Original.
These were my birthday gifts for being a Beauty Insider member with Sephora. SUPER excited to try these out and see how I like them. So far, I love the texture, scent, packaging, and tint.


#3. St. Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Body.
I received this as my 200-point perk with Sephora as I was checking out. Another item that I'm squealing with excitement over. I hear nothing but amazing things about the St. Tropez collection of bronzing products. I'm really wanting to try the bronzing mousse though - Kandee Johnson raves about it...


#4. Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil.
Sephora always gets me with those little bins of mini/travel/discounted products near the checkouts. This time I came across a small bottle of argan oil and I knew I had to try it. I've heard so many amazing things about how this works wonders on your skin and hair, and I was compelled to pick it up and try it out. I've used it a couple of times on my face and once on my hair so far, and I've got mixed feelings about the results. Stay tuned for a review...


#5. Origins Modern Friction Microdermabrasion.
I received a sample of this upon checking out at Sephora. I tried it in the shower today. Personally I didn't find anything miraculous about it, and it was too small of a sample to really know what it did.


#6. Hanae Mori Paris Eau de Toilette.
Another sample from Sephora (I was rolling in the freebies by the time we left the mall...). I LOVE the scent of this, and yet, (apparently...) it's a men's cologne. I don't really care though - it smells of like, sunscreen, vanilla, and happiness rolled all up into one. I adore it - seriously, you should check it out if you get a chance. Notes of lemon, lavender, green notes, blackcurrant buds, iris, jasmine, lily of the valley, cedarwood, sandalwood, oakmoss, amber, tonka bean, vanilla, and chocolate <-- seriously!? How did they decide that this was a more appropriate scent for men!?


#7. Lise Watier Summer Sunset Bronzer (limited edition)
I picked this up, sort of on a whim. After eyeballing it at Shopper's Drug Mart when picking up the BB cream a few days back, I looked up several reviews on the powder, and knew I had to add it to my small collection of bronzers. Being as pale as I am, it's very difficult to find 'the right' bronzer for my skin tone. Fortunately, this appears to be a very convincing bronzer for me. The powder is silky smooth, and creates a gorgeous glow on my face. Can't wait to use this more and let you guys know what my final opinions are...


So that's my haul. I hope you guys enjoyed this long-overdue post. Here's hoping I have a few more posts coming within the next few days - have a fantastic week!!


xoxo


What is your favorite summer beauty item!?

Tarte Mineral Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess

I got a mini size of the Tarte Mineral Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess alongside Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Dollface in a High Performance Naturals kit at Sephora in summer 2011. It cost me about $30 CDN, though I don't recall the exact cost. This mini bronzer contains 3.20 g (0.11 oz) of product, but the full-size product (available from Sephora) contains 0.32 oz. Here's a blog post by My Kiss 'n Makeup about this little kit, if you're interested.


The packaging is almost identical to the full size bronzer, just in mini form. The tiny version does not have a mirror inside, and the packaging feels more flimsy, in my opinion, than the full-size version does. The compact is plastic, with a quilted, bronze textile on the lid. The product information is located on a sticker on the bottom of the compact.

According to Sephora.com, this bronzer is "whisper light... containing Skinvigorating ingredients like vitamins A and E, which act as antioxidants to fight free radical damage and mineral pigments that are known for their soothing and softening properties. Dermatologist tested." This bronzer is free of oil, talc, synthetic fragrance, parabens, sulfates, petrochemicals, and phthalates.

With flash.

Park Avenue Princess is described by Sephora as being a "highly pearled golden tan." I would agree 100%. In the pan, this bronzer looks incredibly sparkly - borderline disco-ball face. On the skin, however, it comes off as 'glowy,' which I can only assume is the 'highly pearled' aspect of the bronzer as described by our friends at Sephora.

With flash.
Left: swatch, Right: swatch blended in

No flash, natural light.
Left: swatch, Right: swatch blended in

It is definitely a golden tan in every sense of the phrase, which is why I was worried that it wouldn't look fantastic on my skin tone. Because I'm a neutral-undertoned-albino, I can't do oranges, yellows, or browns... I can just do neutral-ish tans, which basically don't exist. This gives me a really healthy glow though... it makes my skin look sun-kissed and alive, without looking like I just gobbed on oodles of orange-y sparkles.


I use this powder with a larger brush around the outside and on the high points of my face. In fact, I like using my ELF Studio Powder brush with this powder... it applies and blends products so well, that it really gives a fantastic 'general' glow, instead of a streak of gold down the side of my face. Park Avenue Princess gives the illusion that I've been out in the sun getting some vitamin D, when really - I haven't seen the sun in quite some time, haha. It's not too shimmery, but it's about as far as I'll go on the shimmer spectrum. Too much shimmer can go bad quite quickly on my skin texture and tone... but this is okay.


I don't know that I'd describe the powder itself as "whisper light," but it is incredibly light-weight on my skin, and blends really easily. It's hard to blend 'too much,' so you don't end up blending this right off your face, which is a nice feature. It's very smooth and doesn't apply patchy or cakey... though the swatch in the picture below appears a bit powdery... so long as you tap off your brush after dipping it in the powder, you won't have that problem on your face.

With flash.
Left: swatch, Right: swatch blended in 

The lasting power of this bronzer is pretty amazing. I don't notice it moving or fading nearly as quickly as some other powders I have do - which I really love.


As far as the 'healthy' benefits of this powder goes, I really can't say whether or not my skin feels more or less invigorated or conditioned. It feels about the same, really... 


Lately, I've really been enjoying it, since winter has sucked the life out of my skin - and I look sickly all the time. I like being glowy... it's a good look to rock. I don't know that I'd spend the $38 CDN for the full-size replacement when I run out... I can just as easily pop in at my MAC store and pick up a cheaper bronzer there... but while it lasts, I'm really impressed.


4 out of 5 stars.
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What's your favorite bronzer?? Do you prefer shimmery or matte face powders?

MAC Matte Bronze Bronzing Powder

This bronzer will run you about $23 CDN. It holds 10 g or 0.35 US oz of product. The sturdy, sleek black compact has a mirror inside for on-the-go application. It can be purchased at MAC stores or from www.maccosmetics.com.

MAC claims that this is "a lightly... tinted powder that gives skin sheer, natural colour effects and highlights. Ideal for enhancing a skin tone or to accent or strengthen a tan. Skin-conditioning - and formulated to provide a smooth, even application on all skin types."

NO FLASH

WITH FLASH

I purchased this bronzer in anticipation of my upcoming summer wedding. I had made several trips to MAC before in search of a shade (whether bronzer, blush, or eyeshadow) that would be suitable for contouring my face with. It was an extremely difficult and drawn out process since I am so incredibly fair with neutral undertones. On one of the trips, I asked the makeup artist about whether or not they had a matte bronzer that would work with my skin tone. She pulled out "Matte Bronze," and swept the color under my cheekbones and along my temples. I was amazed.

First, I will start off by saying that it is very hard for me to purchase bronzer. Because of my fair complexion and uncommon undertones, it is incredibly difficult for me to find a bronzer that is not too orange or too brown, matte and not shimmery, pigmented and affordable. Most bronzers look teracotta-colored or muddy on my skin.

This bronzer has moderate pigmentation, it's not sheer, but it is buildable. On my fair skin, it is easy to be too heavy handed in application, but on more medium skin tones, this would be easy to apply and blend without looking unnatural.

It is a warm-toned bronzer, a medium tan color.

On the left: a more heavy handed application of the MAC Matte Bronze Bronzing Powder. On the right: a lighter application of the powder.

I apply this with an angled blush brush from Quo, or with a blush brush. It applies smoothly and blends effortlessly.

While this is a fairly pricey expenditure, it lasts for quite a while. I've had mine for almost a year, and while I have hit pan, I still have a long ways left to go before I finish it. I use it almost every day, even when I'm not wearing foundation, just to give my face a more contoured, slender appearance. It adds a warmth to my face, like I have a sun-kissed glow. Over time, it definitely pays for itself.

I would never go back to using drugstore bronzers after finding this, my Holy Grail bronzing powder. I think that the money is well-invested in buying something that works for my skin tone, and lasts for a long time. Definitely a must have item for me!

4 out of 5 stars (oh $$dolla signs$$, why must you bring me down??)
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