Last chance for giveaway!

Check out fellow bloggers giveaway!

http://cfbeauty.blogspot.com/2010/10/200th-followers-giveaway-mac-venomous.html

Fellow Blogger's Give away!

Just stumbled across Jen's blog and glad I did! Besides the great blog she has she is doing an AWESOME giveaway to celebrate 500+ followers! It ends the 16th of August so hurry up and check it out!

Check it out here:

http://l1lmamaj.blogspot.com/2010/07/my-500-followers-giveaway.html

Cheeky!

Today I'm going to review another great mark find, their Just Pinched Instant Blush Tint in Cheeky...

What mark says:

"For a natural looking flush"

$7.00 .14 oz

Wow thanks for the great description lol

My initial thoughts:

I have a love/hate (ok hate) relationship with cream blushes or tints or gels or any other kind of blush besides powder. This is mainly due to the fact that I have oily skin and they tend to leave my skin sticky and slide off my face within a few hours.

I decided to try this one well because its mere pennies, plus it looked like a cute color online.

(There is no description of the color online but to me it is a bright girly pink)

Texture and Packaging:

What surprised me when I first opened the package was that it is teeeeeny! I was expecting a blush the size of Tarte's cheek stains, but I guess I should have looked at the size in the description before I bought it. The packaging is the usual mark sleek (dark brown or black? can't tell) plastic. You can twist the bottom to reveal more product.

Besides the size there are good points to the blush. The texture is nice, its creamy, not too sticky, and the color is sheer but buildable with no shimmer. What I reallly liked about the blush is that the color is very similar to one of my favorite blushes... NARS Angelika!!

NARS Angelika!

I do like this blush, I find it not toooo sticky for me (although a little) and lasts a decent amount of time, however I have been wearing Angelika over it and love it! I actually had color on my cheeks by the end of the day, usually my blush is gone by noon on my oily skin. So for this I love it, seems like a great combo, especially in this weather. I want to order the peach one to wear under my Orgasm blush. It also seems to intensify the color of the powder blushes I put on top... like a blush primer! I should really start doing face photos to show lol.

Here's a side by side swatch of both Cheeky and Angelika (Cheeky on top one swipe, sorry it's blurry)

Overall a good find, I give it a 3.8 out of 5, not a full 4 cause any blush but powder just isn't my thing, but its a good cheek tint, and not thaaat sticky. But it's great as a blush primer!

mark. haul ,Tarte and more!

As I mentioned in my first post I am a new mark rep. I have used their products in the past and liked them so I figured why not try to make some extra cash and get an awesome discount! I will be throwing in mark hauls 2X a month so if there is something from mark you want me to review I will definetly do it! I really like their products, they are very reasonably priced, in most instances costing less than most drugstore brands. And I find the quality of most products to be on par with many higher end products.
I will always be honest in all of my product reviews, regardless of the brand.

If you are interested in any of the mark products please visit http://www.meetmark.com/ or my mark. store http://sarahdougherty.mymarkstore.com/store.com/ :)

So on with the reviews!

mark mini haul (and a tarte!)

What I got:

-mark. dew drenched lip color in
Pink Posey

-mark. just pinched instant blush tint in
Cheeky

-bronze pro bronzing powder in
Pro Glow

-Tarte LipSurgence Lip stain in
Charmed

I'm going to review the Bronzer and the lipstain today. :)



mark. Bronze pro bronzing powder in Pro Glow:

Swatches: 1st is lightly applied with finger, 2nd is piled on

What mark. says:

Acheive a healthy glow now with this poil-absorbing, lightly shimmery bronzer that imparts a wash of color. Brush applicator included .14oz $10.00

First Impressions:

This bronzer by mark comes in three shades, and to me is a sheer matte (I don't see any shimmers, even in the light) finish. The powder has a nice consistency and is very silk feeling. For 10 bucks not a bad find!

It reminds me of Benefits hoola which I used for years, however, the color is a bit more on the peachy side. Pro Glow I would say is best for fairer skin tones, you can use it as a contour shade as well since it isn't super dark.

Packaging:

I like mark packaging, not over the top or very cute but minimalistic and sturdy. The powders are similar to some MAC ones, it has a seperate compartment for the brush that comes with it. The brush is ok, its flat and kind of like a half moon shape. Nice for touchups but I would recommend a big fluffy brush for application.

Overall a good find, I give it a 4 out of 5

Tarte Lip Stain with Lipsurgence in Charmed

What Tarte says: " A natural lipstain that is clinically proven to increase lips moisture content by 6000%
$24.00 .08 oz
Charmed is described as a light pink

My thoughts:

I read really good things about this lipstain and had very high hopes. I was looking for something that was going to stay put all day and give a nice natural flush. The pics I took are pretty close to what it looks like in real life, so its a bit brighter to me than a light pink. I almost feel that it gets darker over time, and on my lips it reminds me of Dior lipglow in color. Some people like that but I was looking for something not so bright.

Formula and packaging:

I like how it's creamy, and feels nice on the lips. It also isn't matte, it has a sheen to it that after a while fades to a stain. The stain lasted on me for about 2 hours which I think is pretty good(I drink a lot of tea and water allll day)

Does it increase my lips moisture by 6000%? No, infact I thought it was a little drying and had to put a balm on after the glossiness faded.

The packaging is a nice idea, a fat pencil so you can trace your lipline. There is no need to sharpen it since you can twist the bottom up to reveal more product.

This product does not do well in hot weather, I brought it with me in my purse and it was almost melted after an hour, also the tip of it broke off :(

Overall decent product, but not what I'm looking for.

I give it a 3 out of 5 (and its going back to Sephora )

Here's a nail of the day to leave you with, Essie's Ballet Slippers. This is the second time I have used this, I have a hard time making it not look too streaky. It's pretty, but not sure if it goes with my skin tone, I think I would like it more if it had more pink in it.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Hi! First post everrr! Rimmel Stay Matte vs. Mac Blot

hi everyone! This is my first blog post. My name is Sarah, I am a 20 something student (grad school) who looooooooves cosmetics. I am a new Mark Rep so I will be reviewing a lot of Mark products. However, I love all different brands and have a special obsession with returning things to Sephora (so I can try everything new that comes out!!).

As a side note I am sorry for the quality of my pics, hopefully I will get better with time. I have a new found respect for beauty bloggers, how do you guys get your pics to look so nice?? I can't even take a picture of myself without looking distorted lol.

Soooo on with todays post.

RIMMEL Stay Matte Pressed Powder VS MAC Blot pressed powder!

I have pretty oily skin, I guess its genetic since most people in my family do as well. But on the bright side oily gals are suppose to stay young looking longer, and since most people think my mother is in her late 20's and she's pushing 50 it just might be true!

The reason I picked this up at Target was because on MUA it got decent reviews and people compared it to MAC blot powder.

I got it in Translucent and actually it was a good deal ,it was 2 for one packaged together for less than 5 dollars.

Here's a pic side by side of MAC blot and Rimmel Stay Matte. My Mac Blot completley shattered the other day so I don't really have a good pic for you guys of it, but I use it in Medium during the day to touch up.

Honestly I have never found a powder that has made me oil free for an entire day, so a product that keeps me looking "normal" for a few hours is good in my book. So in that department I would say both powder have the same oil controlling powers. However, there are differences...BIG differences.

-Rimmel Stay Matte in Transluscent was NOT Transluscent, so I can't imagine what the other colors would have shown up as. Lucky for me I am pretty fair and the color matched my skin tone pretty well. So if you are darker than about NC20 this may be a problem for you. MAC blot even in Medium really doesn't add any color.

-MAC Blot is much finer in texture, Rimmel Stay Matte went on smooth but thicker and more powdery, you could tell I had powder on my nose and I only lightly dusted it on with a powder brush.

Here is a comparison: MAC Blot on middle, Rimmel on Ring

In all I would give it a 3.5 out of 5, it did what it was suppose to do, keep oil at bay, however, it is just not as good as Mac Blot texture wise. When I want to touch up throughout the day I don't want to look like I am adding layers to my makeup.

Oh yeah almost forgot, it is scented! It smells like.....hmmm.. old lady? Not overpowering and fades after a few mins, but still it is there.

Also it doesnt come with a puff or anything. MAC blot comes with a crappy puff.

So thats it for now, what do you think? As time goes on I will do some FOTD and post pics of myself, but for now I thought this would be a safe post to do.

So if anyone is out there (hello, hello helllllllo) then let me know what you think! And also let me know how you take decent pictures!!

Here's a parting gift for you all, a birthday present I just got on Sunday:

TOKIDOKI KABUKI BRUSH!!! So cute! :)