The Agony of a Budget

Makeup Forever... Why must you taunt me so? When I first came across this beauty I gasped. When I saw the price... I gasped and died.


This is the Dany Sanz Limited Edition Palette. It is jam-packed with 30 shadows and blushes. Each palette is signed and numbered by Dany Sanz, Creator and Artistic Director of MUFE. Only 100 palettes are available and they are a Sephora exclusive. Hurry an get yours. I am sure that at $390 a pop they are flying off of the shelves! lol!

MUFE is one of the few brands that can virtually do no wrong in my eyes. They have a wide range of colors that is anything but boring. MUFE's foundations are some of the best in the industry.

I swear... If I thought that I could deduct $390 from the family budget and keep my marriage intact and my fridge stocked, I would SO fanangle my way right on into one of these bad boys. Shoot... I need to go on a diet anyway.. Let me go and hug up on Mr. Brown and see if I can get any closer to the precious! LOL!

Photo from here

B.B.

Fall Leaves Inspired FOTD

One of my favorite things about living in Connecticut is the landscape. It is simply breath taking. You don't have to be a tree hugger to be rendered speechless by the lush, green hills of the summer or the crystal-like twinkling of the ice covered trees in the dead of winter. Every fall, I am treated to the colorful fashion show the hills put on. The leaves have just began changing color so a shocking golden yellow will pop in the midst of a sea of green . It's gorgeous!

The fall leaves inspired this FOTD. I was going for something the stood out but was still subtle. That's why I used Gold Mode as opposed to a darker gold. I am going to lunch with Mr. Brown and we can't have his employees thinking he's married to a woman of ill repute. LOL!

Item used:
MUFE Mat Velvet Foundation
MAC Paint Pots in Indianwood and Artifact
MAC Pigment in Gold Mode
MAC e/s in Coppering and I *think* Cranberry
Maybelline Full & Soft Mascara
Jordana eyeliner in Green Gables on waterline... Really, it's there. Lol!
NARS Taj Mahal Blush
MAC Slimshine in Mousse (This in my new boyfriend! Perfect MLBB)


So yeah... Pay no attention the triflin-ness that is the brows... I'm lazy.

B.B.

Drum roll please...

Its time for the first official review for


Dang... My cornballness even amazes me at times. Lol. Anyways....

High Definition or HD is the new hotness on the makeup scene. HD makeup was created in response to high-definition photography, which is rapidly becoming the the industry standard. HD photography can be rather unforgiving so the makeup must still cover flaws but still look as natural as possible.

To be honest with you... I have absolutely no clue what makes HD makeup different from all of the other stuff but I'm a sucker for new makeup hotness. Here is what MUFE says about it's own new hotness, HD Invisible Cover Foundation:

"...It harmonizes the complexion and does not accentuate wrinkles, leaving natural-looking skin, and meets the needs of all women who want a beautiful complexion in daylight. Its extremely fine texture is supple and easy to apply... Enriched with moisturizing agents, HD Foundation leaves skin soft and radiant. It is available in a wide range of shades for all skin tones. "

Now that I take a look at them... MUFE doesn't really make any outlandish promises about this foundation. It doesn't promise younger, tighter or even flawless skin. I guess all you can expect is natural looking even tone. That's pretty much what it delivers.

MUFE HD is a medium coverage foundation. It's fairly buildable but if you have hyperpigmentation or dark under eye circles a separate concealer is a must. I'm not going to lie... I'm lazy when it comes to foundation and concealer so I am always on the lookout for a work horse foundation. One pump was all that I needed to do my entire face using the MAC 187. It was a breeze to blend and doesn't feel heavy at all. A regular foundation brush (like the 190) would have probably worked as well but I am foundation brush-tarderated. Every time I use my 190 my foundation goes all streaky. I used Dr.Brandt Microdermabrasion last night so I didn't have any flaking skin or dull patches to contend with.

MUFE HD gives a very dewy finish and does nothing in the way of oil control. If you are a MAC Studio Finish Fluid or a Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse fan than MUFE HD will not be yor friend. If you are oily then expect to be hella oily in a few hours.The ingredient Relipidium (whatever that is) is supposed to increase the moisture in the skin 46% over 4 hours. I used my regular moisturizer (Cera Ve, it's the business!) with it so this definitely contributed to the dewiness. A rice powder or some sort of blot powder is something that you need to have when you're fooling around with this foundation. I can see this being a great choice for dry or mature skin.

These pics were taken using a 40 watt GE Reveal light bulb.
MUFE HD in 178 and I concealed about 4 spots using kevyn Aucoin's SSE in these pics.

As per usual MUFE fashion, HD is available in wide array of shades, 25 to be exact! Plenty of brown girl friendly shades. At $40 a pop, it's not the most wallet friendly foundation out there but no one ever accused MUFE of cheap.

Finished results with MAC Blot Powder. Ya'll see me wiggin out! Gettin my protective styling on!

So what's the verdict?

3.5 out a possible 5 points.

Meh... It's nice but nothing to break a heel trying to get to. I don't see any difference between this and several other foundations. Maybe I can get Mr. Brown to buy me a hi-def digi cam and that's when the magic will happen. Until then, I will keep it moving. For $40 I was expecting to be wowed a little more.

Has anyone tried this? Planning on it? Let me know.

B.B.

Send in the Clowns

My never ending search for ignorantly bold and in your face eyeshadows has led me down the road of theatrical makeup. It started when I discovered Makeup For Ever's Flash Color Pots. There are 20 bold shades available spanning the color spectrum. A wonderful SA at Sephora hooked me up with a generous sample of fuchsia and I was hooked immediately. It went on creamy, opaque and bright! I packed Lancome's Color Design Eyeshadow in The pink Carpet over the FCP and loved the results. I wasn't ready to spend $17 a pop on these babies though.

(I wish I could give a breakdown of the colors but these are a month or two old I was practicing lash application so I didn't bother writing it any where)

With a little research I learned the FCPs are grease paint or simply put, clown makeup. I also learned that it was readily available for a fraction of the cost of MUFE's FCP's. Mehron's Color Cups are only $3.95 on their website.

There are tons of websites out there that sell theatrical and face painting makeup. A few of my favorites are Bubbasikes, Stagesupply, Costumesgalore and Makeupmania. Depending on where you live, theatrical makeup is usually available at costume shops.

If you do decide to give grease makeup a try be sure to use a primer because they will crease like there is no tomorrow. UDPP or TFSI both worked well. Be sure to "pack" your shadow on. In my experience, the windshield wiper motion just doesn't get the job done. Between primer and packing, I was crease free all day long. There was no color fading or muddying either. I am loving the Mehron Color Cups that I grabbed from a local shop. Stay tuned... I smell a few FOTD's coming up! Until then-

Be bold and beautificated!

B.B.

P.S. If you have not seen Lancome's The Pink Carpet in person do yourself a favor and run to your nearest counter! It is one of the best pinks that I have tried. It's what MAC Passionate wants to be when it grows up! lol!

Makeup Forever HD Powder $6 Dupe!!!

Pure Luxe Cosmetics (PL) is fairly well known among mineral makeup circles. I learned of PL after my fruitless foray into Bare Escentuals (We'll touch on that at a later date. Since this is my first post, we'll keep it positive. Lol). PL quickly became one of my favorite e-tailers with the cheap, jarred samples and wide array of colors. I stumbled across the loveliness that is silica powder purely by chance quite some time ago. I was just trying various products to get a feel for what the brand had to offer.

PL describes the silica powder as "Unbelievably feather light. Silica is a nautral oil absorber and light diffuser, giving you an all-over soft appearance. The "slip" silica offers as a primer will make this a staple in your cosmetics case".

I must say... It lives up to these claims... Kinda.

I didn't use it as a primer. I used it as a finishing powder. It felt great on my face! It was so lightweight it felt as if I was wearing nothing. No cakeyness or ashy-ness. I was left with a soft air brushed appearance. Dare I say it looked as if I had a "natural glow" As far as it being an oil absorber... Well, I've had better. I'm not a particularly oily gal but I did notice some T-zone oilies about 3-4 hours after putting it on.

Like most etailers, the packaging is nothing special. A regular 'ole sifter jar. No frills but effective. I'm not at all upset about this it because keeps the price dirt-stinkin-cheap!
1/4 tsp sample=$1.50 10Gr jar=$6 20 20 Gr jar=$10 30Gr jar=$14

Make Up Forever recently released High Definition Powder. This too is 100% silica. I bought it not knowing that I had basically the same thing in my stash already. I must point out that the MUFE HD Powder is a finer mill than PL though. I got the same results with the MUFE HD Powder than I did with the PL silica. I have to admit that the MUFE version is in a much nicer package! lol.


Don't worry... I took the MUFE HD Powder back to Sephora. I used my credit to get... Well, I'll save that for another post. Until then-

Be Bold and Beautificated!

Betty Brown