What is a BB Cream?

 What does BB stand for? 
- Blemish Balm or Beauty Balm.

What is a BB Cream? 
- It is basically a multifunctional cream, and combines many of the skincare steps we take (such as primer, moisturizer, sunscreen, foundation and concealer) into one. The BB cream is your tinted moisturizer but super charged.

Where did it come from?
- Originally introduced in Germany by dermatologist, Christine Schrammek in the 1950's and 60's. It was designed to help heal post operative skin. Eventually it made its way to Asia, and into the hands of Korean actresses who really helped to catapult it into popularity.

What does it do?

• Contains UV protection
• Covers blemishes and concealers imperfections
• Heals damaged skin
• Moisturizes the skin
• Brighten and evens skintone
• Decreases the appearance of wrinkles
• Primes the skin 
• Controls oil
• Reduces pore sizes

Each BB Cream does its own set of things, to know which one does what, be sure to read the label and find the one that suits your needs.

How to do I use it?

- I've seen it applied numerous ways. Even though it is an all in one product, I still apply my moisturizer underneath since I have drier skin but those who have normal to oily skin can skip that step. Some women add a primer underneath and some also still apply their own foundation or concealer on top. Try out a few different ways and see what works best for you. 

Do I need one?

- If you want one then definitely try it out but I wouldn't necessarily say this is something that you have to have. Personally I want to wait until I see more BB Creams for darker skin tones out there before I really decide whether or not this is worth keeping around. But I will admit I love the convenience of having multiple products in one. 

What is my skin is darker, can I still use it?

- There are definitely a few darker shades out there for us brown women. Smashbox, Garnier, and Maybelline all make BB Creams for darker tones.  There are some brands that make ones that adjust to each person's skintone but from reviews, they are either too light or too dark. The Dr. Brandt one is said to lean more on the darker side so you may have some success with that. Also Two Faced and Clinique make ones that go up to a medium/golden which may work for lighter skinned brown women. 

*side note* I know there is this idea/myth that darker women don't need any SPF protection but we do. While the effects of the sun might be more difficult to spot on us we can definitely benefit from putting one on, I use an SPF 30 on my face with my moisturizer in the morning. 

Anything else?

- Some BB Creams have thicker textures than others and most have a much thicker consistency than tinted moisturizers and tend to give better coverage. Which for me is great, but for someone who wants a lighter cream or has oily skin, probably not.

- BB Creams in Asia are definitely not the ones you will find here in the US (Western ones). From what I've discovered, the ones here are merely tinted moisturizers with sunscreen (something which isn't necessarily new to us as many of our foundations and tinted moisturizers have skin care ingredients in them). The Asian ones are often thicker and contain skin lightening ingredients which can cast a white "glow" over the skin. For us darker girls, that isn't a good thing so do your research before grabbing these. 

- Did I mention do some research? lol 

Hope this post was helpful to those of you who want to know a little bit more about BB Creams. If any of you have tried multiple ones, leave a comment/review down below! Sharing is caring ;) 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder

Specs:

- available at select sephora stores and sephora.com (Hourglass Ambient Light Powder)

- $45 (yikes!)

- 0.35 oz

Comes in 6 Shades:

Ethereal Light: A sheer, cool tone that eliminates shine and mimics a moonlit glow—even in broad daylight.

Diffused Light: A soft, warm, pale yellow that reduces redness, eliminates shine, and gives skin clarity. 
Dim Light: A neutral soft beige that provides a perfect balance of warm and cool tones to blur imperfections. 
Mood Light: A soft, sheer lavender pink that mimics the softest, most forgiving light and brightens the complexion. 
Luminous Light: A champagne pearl that creates a soft, incandescent candlelit glow—day or night. 
Radiant Light: A sun-kissed golden beige that enhances the overall complexion with believable, subtle warmth. 

Claims:

Create your perfect light. Ambient Lighting Powder is a groundbreaking collection of finishing powders that capture, diffuse, and soften the way light reflects on your skin. Unlike traditional powders, which merely cloak imperfections, Ambient Lighting Powder utilizes photoluminescent technology to filter out harsh light and refine the appearance of the complexion. The powders deliver a multidimensional luminescence to every skintone, making it appear softer, younger, and lit-from-within. The finishing powders enhance skin in any type of light, including flash photography. With six universal shades available, you can create your desired effect—not unlike having a personal lighting technician. Ambient is free of talc, gluten, fragrance, and nanoparticles. It is available in six universally flattering shades from least pearl to most pearl.

Packaging:

Some people have said the packaging feel cheap but I don't see or feel it. Yes its a plastic container with a mirror but nothing too cheap feeling, but I understand that for $45, many would expect something of higher quality. My pet peeve was that because it was a shiny reflective plastic case, it showed any and all smudges or finger prints. 

Review: 

One day on Instagram, one of my followers posted up a new product that I had never heard of. So naturally I head over to Sephora's website and the comments were raving about this product. Then I hit up the blogs and they loved it too. I got excited from all the positive reviews plus Hourglass' claims of creating a soft diffused glow to the skin, it seemed perfect. When I got to sephora, I was surprised at how finely milled and silky the powder felt and it blended flawlessly against my skin. While it felt great, I was missing that "glow" everyone was talking about. I figured I would take it home and play with two shades, Mood and Dim. I would have loved to get Radiant Light, but I noticed the darker shades had glitter in them which wasn't what I wanted. 

After taking them home and playing around with various foundations, brushes and blush shades, I realized while it gave a nice finish to my face, it simply wasn't worth $45. A similar look can easily be recreated by using NARS Albatross lightly, however that isn't as finely milled as the hourglass powders. I did love how lightweight it felt against my naturally dry skin. Never did it look powdery or seem to sit on my skin, it blended really well. Personally, I feel that for darker skin to get that perfect light, there needed to be a bit more pigment in a soft golden shade. Everything to me was too pale to make an impact or too glittery for my personal taste. The ambient light powder isn't a total dud, I think its a great product...for someone else. I picked up the new NARS light reflecting loose setting powder which I think is better for me and my skin, plus its cheaper :) 

This is me with a tinted moisturizer and the Ambient powder in Dim applied all over. 

Dim 

Mood

Mood, Dim

Mood and Dim swatched heavily on the arm

Influenster Summer Beauty VoxBox Review

I was lucky enough to receive this Summer's VoxBox from Influenster. For those who don't know, Influenster is like a sample box program but its free. They randomly select people based on their preferences, how many badges they get and how often they promote the products they recieve. This is my second box and for something thats free, it isn't too shabby.

July 2012 Birchbox

I jumped on the sample box bandwagon earlier this year and I'm finally getting a chance to blog and write about it. I am subscribed to birchbox. For $10 a month, they send you a random sample of cosmetic, hair, fragrance and sometimes food items. Honestly, it has all been more miss than hit, I've only really found a few products that I actually like but it does give us a good chance to try out new products we may have otherwise skipped over.

MAC and Iris Apfel Collection...and Rodarte...and Dame Edna...

No, this isn't a review and there will not be one. Let me tell you why. When I first read that MAC was coming out with a collection inspired by her, I raised an eyebrow because I vaguely remembered a lovely quote she said just recently. Here it goes

"Now when I walk down Fifth Avenue in the summertime I just want to throw up. It seems that the fatter and uglier people are, the fewer clothes they wear. The shorts and flip-flops and tight jeans on butts that go from here to Poughkeepsie … I always say they should put people in jail for wearing clothes like that. Especially stretch jeans over size 10 [a UK size 14] – they should be outlawed. Ten years ago people were starting to look like slobs in New York, now it’s an epidemic.”

Huh, oh really now? People who are size 10's are ugly, fat slobs? Cool story, bro. While she is entitled to her opinion, the name calling was unncessary and extremely rude and I will not excuse her comments simply because she's old. A size 10 will look different on almost every woman, depending on height, or body shape and as a so called "fashionista" she should know this. Last time I looked, stretch jeans look amazing on curvier bodies, and that is a fact! LOL. If she thinks a size 10 is sloppy, well i don't want to know what she thinks of a size 16 or even a size 20. Oh, and i've seen many a size 2, 4, 6, and 8  girls look sloppy and ugly in little shorts, flip flops, and stretch jeans so her argument fails on every.single.level.

MAC has really been doing some questionable collections these past few years. Rodarte or Dame Edna anyone? If you don't remember the Rodarte collection mess, click here for a google search that will tell you everything you need to know, and then some. While the Dame Edna collection went off without much issue, she too was on the list of people I side eye because of this insensitive comment,

"Forget Spanish. There's nothing in that language worth reading except Don Quixote, and a quick listen to the CD of Man of La Mancha will take care of that. There was a poet named Garcia Lorca, but I'd leave him on the intellectual back burner, if I were you. As for everyone's speaking it, what twaddle! Who speaks it that you are really desperate to talk to? The help? Your leaf blower? Study French or German, where there are at least a few books worth reading, or, if you're American, try English." (in response to a Vanity Fair column she was answering)

Some said her comments were not to be taken so seriously, but it was in extremely poor taste and even though I'm not hispanic, I'm offended. I'm so tired of people telling me and others who are done with the "funny" race, sexuality or gender jokes to "get over it" cause I will not and I never will. Just because you're a comedian doesn't excuse your shitty, prejudiced comments, word to Tracey Morgan and his unfunny self.

I'm at the point I am pretty much done with MAC, after Rodarte I sold or gave away about 80% of the MAC I had and this is pushing me to rid myself of the rest. But I will be honest, it will break my heart to get rid of my favorite lippies and my Woodwinked. But the makeup world is constantly growing and I'm quite sure I can replace it with little effort. I wish more people would start holding these companies accountable for the people they align themselves with, but I lost hope for that after Rodarte where many girls said they'd still buy it because its so pretty and that we were all overreacting...sigh. Take Care :)

 

Source: photo courtesy of Temptalia , Iris quote courtesy of Coco and Creme

Urban Decay Naked Palette 2: it has been confirmed

Finally all the rumors can be put to rest! I couldn't locate any expected launch date so unless they're planning to unveil it within the next week, I don't think this is something that will be sitting under your tree this Christmas. Maybe for Valentine's Day...

 

 

 

Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall, Chopper, Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout

 

It looks like a warmer version of the old palette, which is GREAT news for me (and many others) but it also looks like even more shimmer :( I would have loved to see a matte neutral palette...Urban Decay's stellar pigmentation + matte finishes+ everyday staple colors?! I wish...

So is it something you all might be looking forward to?

source: Pinch of Pretty

Day 20: My Favorite Neutral and Gold Eyeshadows (part 1)

Hey, I thought a series of my favorite shades would be a nice addition to the whole 30 day challenge thing. I'll do it in groups neutrals/golds/browns, blues, greens, purples, and misc (like pinks, oranges, duochromes). Since i'm a total gold and brown fanatic, i'll start with my favorites in that color group :) Oh and this is only going to be part 1, cause like I said, i'm a gold/brown fanatic so this part here are MAC and NARS. The next part 2 will be more random brands and drugstore ones.

 

Top to Bottom: (All MAC) Soba, All that Glitters, Texture, Amber Lights, Woodwinked, Goldmine.

- Soba: A light golden brown with subtle golden shimmer. Its my all over lid color, my highlight, my crease/blending color...basically its my go to color for almost everything, and its a perfect flesh tone eyeshadow for me.

- All That Glitters: pinky champagne with with golden shimmer. I love this color as a lighter lid shade, sometimes i just blend it out with soba, put some black liner and mascara on and go. It wakes my eyes right up.

- Texture: Reddish medium brown with shimmer. I don't know why I didn't buy this one sooner, its gorgeous. It has now become my best friend color instead of Saddle. Very pigmented, but it does have alot of fall out when you put brush to shadow, I often have to knock some off.

- Amber Lights: Bright golden brown with shimmer. While this isn't my favorite gold color, it is still wonderful to have. Its a bit too metallic and glittery for me to use during the day but it makes for an awesome golden smokey eye.

- Woodwinked: Warm metallic bronze. My favorite shade, hands down. I wear it almost everyday and even though its a metallic bronze, its actually quite subtle. Feels amazing, pigmented, and blends easily.

- Goldmine: Gold with shimmer. Your standard gold eyeshadow but its very flattering on almost all skin tones. It is a bit more sheer than I like, but it builds easily to a nice gold.

 

 

Top to Bottom: (All NARS) Etrusque, Fez, India Song, Bengali, Galapagos, Coconut Grove

 

Etrusque: Yellow golden with shimmer. This is a really nice warm gold shade, and would look great with greens. It's pigmented (like most NARS is) and goes on super smooth.

Fez: Warm brown bronze with subtle shimmer. If you are looking for staple neutrals from NARS, Fez is a shadow you need to look at. It's a single shadow so you won't be stuck with another color you don't like. It's a bit more hard than the other shadows but its still pigmented.

India Song: A deep brown with subtle shimmer. This is part of a duo, the other half is a light matte ivory shade. Its a nice deep shade, leans a little bit more cool but its a nice crease color.

Bengali: A medium deep matte brown. A must have neutral, the color and the texture is the best i've encountered. Its a very rich deep brown, not too light or too dark and its undertones are more neutral.

Galapagos: A deep espresso brown with gold glitter. Now this one when applied, doesn't always show the gold glitter, you have to use a patting or use circular motions to get it to show up, so you do get an option. It's a warmer shade that I use everyday to deepen my crease or just as an all over shade for a daytime smokey eye.

Coconut Grove: Blackened matte dark brown. Once again, an amazing texture and color. It's more multi-use for me, I put this in my brows when I want a more defined brow, and also as a deep brown liner.