Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duos ~Strawburn, Golden Blonde, Ash Blonde/Taupe, Medium Ash/Medium Brown, Brunette ~ Swatches, Photos, Review

August 22, 2012 By 2 Comments
I have been a hardcore, devout, shout it from the rooftops fan of the Anastasia Brow Powder Duo for years now. I searched, and searched, year after year, for a brow product to tie in my red hair that wasn’t too dark, too garish, too bright, too red. It seemed impossible to find something natural and flattering for redheads until I stumbled upon the Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Strawburn. I have used it almost every day for years and although I have hit a lot of pan there is still some product left. 

Create beautiful and natural brow effects with Anastasia’s Best-Selling Brow Powder Duo. This lightweight, sheer to medium coverage formula was designed to be smudge proof and comes with two shades per compact to ensure the perfect brow color.

When it came to purchasing brow products for my professional kit there was no question they would be from Anastasia Beverly Hills. She is the queen of amazing brow products. I also purchased the Brow Wiz pencils which I will share with you in a future post.
The Brow Powder Duos are available in six shade combinations. I have 5 of them to share with you. I am missing the new Ebony Duo.

  • Strawburn – Suggested for auburn hair
  • Golden Blonde – Suggested for golden and strawberry blonde hair
  • Ash Blonde/Taupe – Suggested for light to dark blonde hair
  • Medium Ash/Medium Brown – Suggested for light to medium brown and silver hair
  • Brunette – Suggested for medium brown to dark brown hair
  • NEW Ebony – Suggested for dark brown to black hair
All of the duos offer natural, flattering, brow enhancing shades that resist fading through the day. They offer an amazing assortment of ash tones which I know many blondes struggle to find as well. With the ability to mix the two shades in each duo I’m sure everyone can find a great match. I love as well that I can focus the darker shade on my inner brow and gradually fade into the lighter shade towards the tail of my brow. The same technique can be used from the base of your brow upwards. When you are working with brows as sparse as mine this flexibility to vary the tone really offers a more natural result.
Click to enlarge. Anastasia Brow Powder Duos

Anastasia Beverly Hills products are available at Sephora.

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Filed Under: Anastasia, Brows

Anastasia Beverly Hills She Wears it Well Eyeshadow Palette ~ Swatches, Photos, Review

August 20, 2012 By 4 Comments

Classic Hollywood glamour meets modern moxie with this array of shadows that impart a sophisticated smolder to the eyes. Anastasia’s Illumin8 formula features Youthful Synergy Complex®, clinically proven to illuminate, firm, and hydrate the skin.

Anastasia has a new eyeshadow palette available that is a practical and gorgeous assortment of both shimmering and matte neutrals in sleek packaging.
There are 5 shimmering shades in the 0.025 oz size and one large 0.063 oz size shimmering beige shade Sunset. There are also 3 smooth and nicely pigmented matte shades in the 0.025 oz size.
Trophy, Glow, Latte, Foxy
Sunset

Frosting, Onyx, Almond, Toffee
The shadows ranged from good to excellent pigmentation. The mattes were impressively pigmented and smooth with no chalkiness. I did experience some fallout with a few of the shimmering shades like Latte but didn’t find this too troublesome as I just did my eye makeup before my base. The shades faded fairly quickly without a base but the use of a eye primer or cream base means these shadows will last the day with no issues. I love the shade selection especially since it was an assortment of neutrals that wasn’t too overly warm in tone and had a nice mix of matte and shimmer with a great black included. So many possibilities. You can see how nicely the shades apply below. These are dry swatches. These eyeshadows are a wet and dry formula so for even more intense results you can apply them wet. 

The PR samples of this palette also included these fabulous look cards to give inspiration for looks you can create with the palette. I will be sure to recreate some of these in a future FOTD post for you. Sorry my watermark obscured them a bit.

The She Wears it Well Palette ($34 US/$44 CDN) is available now at Sephora, Nordstrom,  and on Anastasia.net.
Product provided by the company’s PR for my consideration. All reviews are always my own honest and unbiased opinions.
Filed Under: Anastasia, Eyeshadows

Makeup Wars Most Expensive Face Challenge

August 6, 2012 By 30 Comments

When I heard that our next Makeup Wars challenge was to create our most expensive face I knew it was a project I could excel at. If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I have a weakness for luxury and niche cosmetics. This really has been an eye opening experience. I can certainly admit that I have a little bit of a “problem” but my problem is your gain. Seeing it all laid out like this is a bit frightening. It is both my passion and my crutch. This post reminded me of why I started this blog. I needed to give my rather excessive passion for the world of beauty more of a purpose. Being able to share my experiences with you has made my indulgences seem more worthwhile.

Now this look was created with this challenge in mind so of course I made sure to include my pricier items, and did what I would consider a special occasion or going out face, but in truth this look could have just as easily happened by chance. This is what I do. I have so many beautiful things and I only buy and keep things that I know I will use regularly. I think you would be surprised that my overall collection is likely a lot smaller than many of yours as a treat it as a very selective process. I periodically clear out with blog sales, swapping, gifting, etc. as I get overwhelmed by having too much stuff and like to be able to see and find what I love and not be lost in a sea of dupes and items that I don’t care for as much as others. I also do not ever purchase backups. I know I will be in love with something new by the time I ever get to the point of requiring one.

You will also see that I tend to get a bit carried away with my looks. I love to play with “a little bit of this here” and oh “a sweep of this here will be just the right finishing touch”. I have become so used to operating this way that I spend WAY too long on a regular basis doing my makeup. I know how to throw together a 5 or 10 min face but I just never seem to. I like this ritual. It’s me time. Even if it means getting up that much earlier then that is what needs to be done.

I have linked to original reviews for any products which had them available. This also made me realize just how many products I use on a very regular basis that I still haven’t reviewed! There’s just never enough time in the day!

Anyways enough babble. On to the fun stuff. Hmm I wonder if I won the Makeup Wars Most Expensive Face Challenge? I think I have a good shot. ;-)
This is the current lineup of products I am using and testing on a daily basis. The Perricone MD Skincare is probably the most expensive skin care I’ve ever purchased. I can’t say I’m too impressed. I’ve been using it for several weeks now and haven’t really noticed any difference in my skin. Bummer. I was really hoping for my miracle product. I am in love with the Algenist UV Defense Fluid and will try to have a review up for it soon. We may be talking about holy grail material here! The cleansing oil is not something I would always use in the morning but I am so in love with the scent of the shu uemura cleansing oil that I have been using just a bit in the morning for the pleasure of it.

Skincare:
shu uemura Ultime8 Cleansing Oil* $98
Perricone MD Acyl-Glutathione Eye Lid Serum $140
B.Seen I’m Dark Circle Reliever* $35
Perricone MD Acyl-Glutathione Face $215
Perricone MD Cold Plasma Face $190
Perricone MD Face Finishing Moisturizer $85
Algenist Ultra Light UV Defence Fluid SPF 50* $38
Alegenist Targeted Deep Wrinkle Minimizer* $55
Total Skincare: $896
For a typical everyday face I would exclude a couple of these products. I am happy enough with the more flawless looking result I achieved though that I will be recreating this complexion again!
Complexion and Cheeks:
Le Metier de Beaute Peau Vierge Tinted Treatment $125
Rouge Bunny Rouge Milk Aquarelle Foundation in Coconut Milk Pafait* where additional coverage needed $70
Rouge Bunny Rouge Seas of Illumination Highlighter in Sea of Tranquility $58 on upper cheekbones, above browbone and on cupid’s bow.
Rouge Bunny Rouge Luminous Skin Wand Orionis $40 under eyes
Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder $26  to set RBR Orionis under eyes.
Make Up For Ever Full Cover Concealer $36 where needed.
Guerlain Meteorites Compact Powder Teint Rose 01to set $66
Le Metier de Beaute Blush Kit Kaleidoscope all shades layered just on the apples of the cheeks $95
Skindinavia Makeup Finishing Spray $19
Total Complexion and Cheeks: $868
Doing this kind of elaborate work on my eyes is pretty standard for me. I wore almost this identical eye look to a wedding three weeks ago. I like layering the Maybelline creme shadow under the Summer Armani ETK shadows to bring out their teal undertones and the layering of the gorgeous matte deep teal Inglot 338 provides Obsidian Grey with added dimension.

Eyes:
Make Up For Ever Eye Prime* $25
Too Faced Glitter Glue Shadow Insurance on inner corner and lower lash line $24
Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Eyeshadow in Edgy Emerald on lid (Love this under the Summer  Armani ETK shadows!) $8.50
Edward Bess Nude Eyeshadow from crease to brow as base $30
Inglot Matte 376 in crease $10
Inglot Matte 338 on outer v into crease $10
Rouge Bunny Rouge Eyeshadow in Sweet Dust Seriema to blend out crease $28
Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Eye Shadows in 20, 21, 22, 23 (Madra Perla on inner corner, Ecailles on lid, Obsidian Grey on outer 3rd, Obsidian Black wet to liner upper lash line and outer lower lash line) $42 ea x 4 = $168
Rouge Bunny Rouge Fire Drops Loose Glitter Pigment in Spun From Sunny Seawater* on lower lash line $31
Le Metier de Beaute Precision Liquid Liner to tightline upper lash line $42
Annabelle Smudgeliner in Atomic Surf on lower waterline $8.95
Maybelline The Mega Plush Mascara $8.50
Anastasia Lash Genius Waterproof Top Coat* $28
Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Strawburn $29
Anastasia Brow Wiz Pencil in Caramel $26
Total Eyes: $504
Just a simple lip with one of my favourite lip products from Le Metier de Beaute. I need to get a review up soon for the Rouge Bunny Rouge Long Lasting Lip pencils as they are a hidden gem. They really anchor your lip look and last forever.
Lips:
Rouge Bunny Rouge Long Lasting Lip Pencil Forever Yours in Raold* $26
Le Metier de Beaute Aurora Lip Kaleidoscope* all shades layered $95
Total Lips: $121
I don’t have an expensive brush collection but I do like to use a lot of brushes when I work. Sorry the brushes are dirty. I had taken photos of them clean before doing my look and then while applying realized I forgot to include some like the addition of the EcoTools brush to sweep off some fallout.

Tools:
shu uemura Gold Eyelash Curler* $24
Sephora Professional Airbrush 55 $41
Rouge Bunny Rouge Contour Brush* $60
Rouge Bunny Rouge Powder Brush $57
MAC 187 $50.50
MAC 188 $42
MAC 239 $30
MAC 222 $28
MAC 217 $27.50
MAC 213 $27.50
MAC 116 $42
MAC 208 $24 x2 = $48
Le Metier de Beaute Concealer Brush $50
bdellium Tools brush 787 $12.10
bdellium Tools brush 936 $7.92
bdellium Tools brush 755 $7.04
bdellium Tools brush 777 $7.48
bdellium Tools brush 772 $7.04
bdellium Tools brush 722 $7.04
Paula’s Choice Precision Shadow Brush $12.95
EcoTools Bronzer Brush $17
EcoTools Powder Brush $10
Total Tools: $635


Grand Total Silly Expensive Face: $3,024! 
Now I know this seems excessive but keep in mind these products have been acquired gradually over a period of years and I did not purchase all of these items myself. The items included in this post that I received from the company for consideration are marked with an *. The prices listed are a mix of Canadian and US. It is still a little disturbing though. I can guarantee you this face is worth more than my entire wardrobe. I do only have this one weakness. ;-)

Here are photos of the look.

Please check out the other amazing Most Expensive Look posts from the Makeup Wars team by clicking on the images below or using the Last and Next buttons above.
Rouge Bunny Rouge and Le Metier de Beaute can be purchased at Zuneta.com which is one of my favourite online shopping destinations with international shipping. Le Metier de Beaute as well as Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, etc are available online from NeimanMarcus.com. Another online experience I couldn’t live without! 

Filed Under: Anastasia, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Le Metier de Beaute, Looks, Makeup Wars, Rouge Bunny Rouge, Yves Saint Laurent
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