Hot Drugstore Find of the Week: Covergirl Smoky Shadow Blast

Hello Divas!

Are you having an awesome week?  I pray that you are!

When I attended Blogalicious 2010, the beautiful ladies of Style Mom and Afrobella hosted a swanky party and all attendees received gift bag full of beauty goodies.  One of the items in my gift bag was this Covergirl Smoky Shadow Blast.  I thought the colors were pretty cool, but did not really use it until December of last year.

I love this eye duo.  It comes in two bold shades and it is specifically designed to create a bold smokey eye.  One end of the pencil has a rounded tip and the other end has a tapered tip.  Step 1 includes using the rounded tip from lash line to brow bone and using the color on the lower lash line as well.  Step 2 includes using the tapered more subdued color in the crease of your upper lid and your lash line.  Blend both colors together and Presto!,  you have the perfect smokey eye.

I have used the the SmokyShadowBlast to create a smokey eye and I have used them separately as an eyeliner or as a sweep of color on my eye lid.  The color are so bold and beautiful, just a little gives my face a small pop of color that is sexy while also being understated.  The best thing about Covergirl's SmokyShadowBlast is the pencil's texture.  It is creamy dreamy!  Seriously it glides on so smooth, it just caresses your eye.  I am a sucker for soft and smooth eye pencils.

Covergirl's SmokyShadowBlast come in six beautiful color combinations and it retails for $7.99  You can purchase it at any CVS or Ulta.   In addition, this product was a CEW Beauty Award 2010 Winner!  It is the best!

Toodles!

Lauren Conrad's New Hair Color

reality star and bestselling author Lauren Conrad arrived at Covergirl Cosmetic's 50th anniversary party with a new look: darker hair!



just to remind you, here's a pic of Lauren with blonde hair (this was taken just a few weeks ago)...




while i, like you, am used to Lauren with lighter hair, i personally really like the new, richer hair color on her-- there are still lighter pieces throughout, too, so it's very flattering.

what do you think?

xo
photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

Want Perfect Lips? Try COVERGIRL's Lip Perfection line

I got a sneak peek of COVERGIRL's Lip Perfection line, including lip pencils and lipsticks, which will officially launch in your local retailers in January 2011, which by the time this is posted, you can probably find at your local drugstore. (It's also available for sale on COVERGIRL's website.) These products are perfect shades for the winter time and provide enough moisture when your lips need it most!
I was sent a few goodies from the line to try a range of shades. Overall, I found them to be long-lasting, semi-moisturizing and the shades to be very pigmented. The packaging was also very sleek- something I didn't expect from drugstore brands. I personally haven't worn a lot of drugstore brand lipsticks (except Sally Hansen & Carmindy's line before they discontinued the lipsticks..) recently, but I am very pleased with this modern look.

COVERGIRL's slogan for their Lip Perfection line boasts 7 days to soft, smooth, beautiful lips vs. bare lips. In this weather, bare lips is not acceptable! Take care of them with at least wearing some kind of lip butter to protect it from the cold/wind. Like I said the lipsticks were very moisturizing and had nice reflectors, making it shiny. The lipliners had a matte finished look but are also very creamy so you can essentially wear the lipliners as lipsticks if you choose to do so.

Here are some of the colors that I tried..

The Lip Perfection lipsticks shown here are Darling (a pretty angelic pink) & Captivate (a darker brown/red hue). Both lipsticks are a bit shimmery than I thought but they are quite pretty. Again the packaging is super sleek and pretty. If you can find your perfect shade, it makes even prettier to carry with! Overall, I found these colors to pretty opaque. I'm used to wearing lots of lip butters and tinted lip shades that go on super smooth. So when I tried these lipsticks without a lipbutter, I didn't find them as smooth and creamy on my lips. It didn't help that my lips were already dry, but I do recommend wearing a base. After I did, the lipsticks were super!

The lip pencils shown here are Radiant, Passion and Smoky. They are my new fave items for 2011, especially Smoky. A gorgeous nude color to wear everyday. These are more matte and are very very rich in color. These are quite moisturizing which is great. The color Passion (middle) is a bright red for those who dare to sport the bright red lips this season.

Here are the swatches, from left to right (Passion, Smoky, Captivate, Darling & Radiant)
Sorry my camera was a bit out of focus I realized here, but you get the idea ;)


My personal favorites? Smoky lip liner of course! Also Captivate is a great winter shade. It's reddish/brownish hue is incredible gorgeous with the right amount of shimmer! I've already seen these at my local drugstore, so check yours out today!

(Disclaimer: I received this product from this company's PR agency to test, try and share my thoughts with my readers.)


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COVERGIRL NatureLuxe products in January 2011

One of my very first lipsticks was purchased by my mother. She bought me a bright fuschia colored lipstick from COVERGIRL and I wore it to a 6th grade event. Back then, I thought it was the most hideous color- it was too bright- but it was moisturizing though. Yet looking back at my old pictures, I realize the color isn't so bad because it stood out and brightened my face. Since then, I have dabbled here and there with other COVERGIRL products- hello LashBlast! While browsing on their website the other day, I was interested to see Taylor Swift on the site. She's the new face of their new luxury makeup line- NatureLuxe. Available in mass-market retailers starting in January, there are only two products in the line- Silk Foundation and a Gloss Balm.

For more details...
Both products contain SPF and are formulated to give you a lightweight, luxurious feel. The foundation contains jojoba and rose hip and the gloss balm contains hints of mango (yum) and shea butter. Unfortunately, I am allergic to SPF (I can only use natural SPF Products such as Titanium Dioxide) but if they didn't have it, I would be all over this line!!

Check out the COVERGIRL NatureLuxe website here.

Read more reviews on COVERGIRL beauty products here.

Check out more blogs @ TotalBeauty.com

Leighton Meester at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards

when Leighton Meester attended the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, she too had a pretty makeup look, created by none other than CoverGirl's celeb makeup artist Molly R. Stern.

Molly shares what products, and how she used them, to create this soft, feminine look...

for her face:

"i prepped Leighton's skin with Josie Marin Argan Oil Skin Primer and lightly moisturized with Sk-11 Facial Lift Emulsion. next, i sparingly used CoverGirl Clean Liquid Makeup.

for her eyes:

"we wanted a celestial glow with a smidge of an edge. so i first based her eye with NARS Cream Chadow in Corfu on the lid, then with Shu Uemura P Gold 94 over the top. i added a little silver sparkly glittery shadow from RMK, a treasure i found in japan, to the inside of the lid and under the outer edge of the eye. next, i lined the top of the lid at the lash line and under the eye with CoverGirl LiquiLineBlast Eyeliner in Blue Boom. for her lashes, 2 coats of CoverGirl LashBlast Fusion in Brown was the perfect finish."

on her cheeks:

"i used Kevin Aucoin Creamy Moist Glow in Nuelle and dusted YSL Touché Blush over the top. to set her look for the red carpet i dusted all over with La Mer Treatment Powder Foundation in Linen.

on her lips:

"i wanted a long lasting nude so i chose CoverGirl Oulast Lipstain in Nude Kiss on the lip with CoverGirl ShineBlast Lipgloss in Dazzle over top."

thanks Molly-- fabulous work!

xo

Covergirl & Olay Simply Ageless Serum Primer

Covergirl and Olay have outdone themselves by creating a fabulous product, the new Simply Ageless Serum Primer. it's an anti-aging serum. it's a primer. it's a brilliant light moisturizer that i simply can't get enough of.

i was first introduced to this beauty by Molly R. Stern at the CoverGirl Lounge event in los angeles back in may. she used it to prep Rashida Jones' skin for the gorgeous look she ultimately created. Molly herself, a makeup maven, admitted that she wasn't too thrilled with the idea of a primer-- she never used them before (good moisturization of the skin works just as well as a primer in most cases, fyi)-- but after using it, and seeing the results it gave, she became a fan.

i, on the other hand, was beyond thrilled to know that CG was stepping it up and adding this to their Simply Ageless line! i couldn't wait to try it myself.

i've been using it for a couple of months now, and i adore it!

it's made with Olay Regenerist ingredients, of course, so my skin doesn't just get prepped for foundation, but is also given an anti-aging treatment every time i use it (multi-tasker alert!). i love its delicate consistency and the way it quickly smooths over my skin without a hint of oil. it doesn't leave my skin matte, but rather looking fresh, pretty and lightly moisturized. i don't have any serious wrinkles, so i don't know how it would be in treating them, but i do know i like the way my skin has been looking since using this.

hope you'll give it a try! look for it soon in your local drugstore.

xo
product featured given to me by representatives of the CoverGirl brand at an event mention in this post.

Hot Drugstore Find of the Week: Cover Girl Eye Enhancers 1 Kit Eyeshadows

Hello Divas!

I hope you are enjoying life and having an awesome day!

I have been using CoverGirl eyeshadows since I was in college.  Why do I love CoverGirl eye shadows?  Well they are affordable, of good quality, and come in a wide range of fabulous colors.  One of my favorite things to do is to roam the CoverGirl section at CVS looking for new eye shadows to try.  CoverGirl now calls them Eye Enhancers because the new formula lasts for hours "bring out the natural beauty of your eyes."   I can attest the shadows do stay put until you clean your face at night.

One of my favorite Eye Enhancers is the color Golden Sunrise.  It is a bronzy peach-orange color and it works perfectly with my skin tone.  This color is usually my eye shadow of choice when I want my eyes to pop!

CoverGirl Eye Enhancers come in mattes, pearls, and sparkly shades.  They glide on smoothly and blend well.  And for only $3.49, you just can't go wrong.  You can purchase CoverG irl Eye Enhancers 1 Kit eye shadows here or at any CVS.

Toodles!