VIctoria Beckham Lust

VIctoria Beckham Lust by divadebbi

Victoria Beckham suede dress / Gianvito Rossi ankle boots, $1,120 / Victoria Beckham handbags tote, $1,270 / Victoria Beckham cat sunglasses / Acqua di Parma perfume fragrance /

Maybelline Master Precise Curvy Liner

Maybelline Master Precise Curvy Liner
$7.99

It's been 30 years now, and I still have not perfected the "cat eye"....in fact I haven't even come close.  I don't know if it's a geometry challenge, right angles and I don't align, or my semi challenged fine motor skills.

This new liner from Maybelline promises a line hugging applicator, that guarantees a thicker more dramatically lined lid and a tip that will provide the perfect "flick", ensuring a seamless cat eye.

There wasn't a chance on earth I wasn't trying it.

Nantucket

Nantucket by divadebbi featuring bohemian dresses

Maje bohemian dress, $350 / Aquazzura suede shoes, $595 / White purse / Linda Farrow aviator sunglasses, $410 / Dr Hauschka dr hauschka lipstick

Brow Mania; Micro Blading

Micro Blading. Before and After

I kept hearing the term "micro blading" and filed it under, note to self, do find out what this means. I knew it was brow and tattoo related, but I couldn't fathom how that could actually translate into fuller, more beautiful brows that look full and entirely natural.   Most tatooed brows unfortunately, look like they were created with a Sharpie.

When a friend posted her newly microbladed brows in a Selfie, I immediately sent a PM asking for the 411. Answer:  "Micro blading is a medical grade tattoo, applied with a small blade that creates hair like strokes.  It does require a touch up in a month, and generally lasts between 10-24 months.  Cost is about $800.

They looked spectacular!
Hmmmmm....

Is it pain free?  Not entirely, though the the numbing cream applied a half hour before significantly take the sting out.  Since this is a long term proposition, I would suggest sourcing an expert, who is licensed and going to someone whose handiwork you have seen in person.

I like how the woman's eyebrows look above, but with an expert shaping, grooming and some brow gel, I think similar looking results could be achieved.

Granted, they would go down the sink nightly.  I did a little dig work and found out that the number three most ordered item on Amazon is WunderBrow, a semi permanent waterproof eyebrow gel, that lasts 2 or 3 days.  It's available in 4 shades and costs $22.   WUNDERBROW contains, "an exclusive blend of hair-like fibers, combined with specifically treated pigments designed to fasten onto skin and hair."

I think I will start here...

What about you???  Do you see Micro Blading in your future???  Is it more maintenance and toil in your book, or would it give your freedom and pleasure to wake up with perfect brows???

xox,

DD

UPDATE!!!

The remarkable Lisa Topham is now offering Micro Blading at the Split Rock Aesthetic Institute in Wilton, CT. Call for your complimentary consultation!

Summer's Twilight

Summer's Twilight by divadebbi featuring a flower stem

Erdem tie neck blouse / Joie crochet shorts / Patent leather shoes / Balenciaga handbag, $1,865 / Byredo fragrance / Barclay Butera cream area rug / Pier 1 Imports flower stem

Style for Style

Style for Style by divadebbi featuring Pier 1 Imports

Tanya Taylor stripe dress / Gianvito Rossi brown booties, $1,050 / The Row hobo purse, $1,265 / Jennifer Fisher cuff earrings, $130 / Hermès hermes perfume / Pier 1 Imports floral decor

Want It

Want It by divadebbi featuring canvas home decor

N 21 cropped trousers / Dsquared2 leather sole shoes, $1,040 / Christian Louboutin leather man bag / Real Jewels earrings / Chloé eau de perfume / Pier 1 Imports canvas home decor

Kevin Aucoin The Eyelash Curler; Must You?

Kevin Aucoin Eyelash Curler
$21

Kind of...That is if if you want to achieve a big bump in curl that holds, directly from the lash line.

I have a 5 year old Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler.  For years, it was the Holy Grail of EC's by anyone's standards.  Why they chose to stop selling this iconic product at U.S. retailers is an enigma; profit, is good...No???  For die hards, you can still purchase it on their website though.

I am a little obsessed with my equally beauty obsessed cousin Karyn's lashes.   After seeing her recently, I wanted a full report on every product in her current arsenal.  She, unlike me, is someone who can successfully use Latisse, without looking like a bunch of fire ants march over her irises.  Her lashes are spectacular.

Besides that, she also uses Kevin Aucoin's The Eyelash Curler, which she swore was even more effective than her old Shu.

Good 'nuff for me...

Ballet Russe

Ballet Russe by divadebbi featuring stiletto shoes

STELLA McCARTNEY dress, $805 / Francesco Russo stiletto shoes / Gucci man bag / BaubleBar pendant necklace / Mac cosmetic

Dud Alert!: CoverGirl Super Sizer Fibers Mascara

CoverGirl Super Sizer Fibers Mascara

I know, I know, I told you the hunt for my cheap and cheerful drugstore mascara was finally sated, having fallen in love with Maybelline Colossal Spider Effects Mascara.

I couldn't help but purchase CoverGirl Super Sizer Mascara Fibers Mascara.  When I was just a wee lass, Max Factor made a fiber mascara. How I loved that mascara! Whatever was in there...hair, felt, iron filings, made my lashes look fantastic. I always wondered why no one, in all these years created a fiber mascara. Today's versions tend to have conical spheres, that sprinkle my face with little triangles.

Um. No thanks...
I am hopelessly optimistic when trying a new product...I always, always think it's going to exceed my expectations. I also had high hopes, since CoverGirl's Lash Exact is one of the best drugstore mascaras I have ever used, and I have purchased it many times.  So, I primed my lashes first, as usual, and prepared myself be astonished...

In fact, I was.  Where, so to speak, "Was the Beef"???  My lashes looked hopelessly anemic after one coat of Super Sizer Fibers MascaraWhere were those fibers hiding?  It would have taken 5 coats to equal one of anything else in my makeup queue.

It's wrapped and ready to be returned to CVS. Big sigh. My trip down memory lane sadly was derailed. For now...

One to skip Lovelies.

xox,
DD

L'Oreal Voluminous Lash Primer

L'Oreal Voluminous Primer
$7.99

Now here's a happy addition to the L'Oreal family.  I LOVE primers.  They make an enormous difference in volume and length and technically, the first coat (best done one eye at a time) can just be slapped on with abandon. Follow up with your favorite mascara and you will be  thrilled with the enhancement.

Pinkie swear.

A "pro" tip on their website suggests applying two coats of primer for maximum effect.  Oh joy! I was tempted to remove my eye makeup now, just so I could try it out for myself.  The morning can't come soon enough.

My first primer was Lancome Cil Booster XL.  It's a fantastic product.  It's also expensive and dries out fairly quickly.  My cheaper cheerful cheat, was to purchase stepchild  L'Oreal's Superstar Mascara, which is a two stepper with a built in primer.  Hate the mascara. LOVE LOVE LOVE the primer and it lasts for months. For $12.99, it was less than half the price of Lancome's, so I still feel like I was getting the better deal, even though it was a bit wasteful.

Nicely, L'Oreal has now created Voluminous Primer as a stand alone product for $7.99.  I haven't bought it yet, (since I still have plenty of Superstar left), but I'm hoping upon hope, they didn't try and reinvent the already perfect wheel.

If any of you Lovelies try it before I do, please let me know.  I'm pretty sure, this is a winner...

xox,
DD

A Love Story: Born This Way Concealer (Part 2)

Too Faced Born This Way Concealer
10 Shades $28

Okay, now that you survived my heartbreak story with Born This Way Foundation, let's move on to their concealer, because, without exaggeration, I will tell you that Too Faced Born This Way Concealer is life changing.

Would you like to look 5 years younger tomorrow?  Does a line blurring, shadow covering, moisturizing, stay put in a million degrees and 100% humidity concealer sound too good to be true???  I would think so...

But, I'm telling you the emes Lovelies. Simply put, conceivably we could all throw whatever lurks in our makeup bags in the garbage, but there is a glitch...

A Love Story: Too Faced Born This Way Concealer (Part 1)

Too Faced Born This Way Concealer
10 Shades $28

Have I ever left Sephora or Ulta empty handed???  Truthfully? Not.  I popped into Ulta with a pit in my stomach... I had a feeling that my beloved Bare Minerals Chasing Your Dreams Lipstick was a summer romance and I was right... It was over.

Thank heavens for the Internet...

As I was leaving, I saw a display for Too Faced Born This Way Concealer and stopped in my tracks...Back in September, I was enamored, to have found the best shade match to my natural skin, with Too Faced Born This Way Foundation in "Golden".

It was the first time I put my big girl panties on, and tried a medium/full coverage foundation.  Crushing my fears of looking old and overly made up, my skin looked natural and flawless.  I proclaimed it my Holy Grail foundation and pledged monogamy for life... Or so I thought.

Born This Way turned out to be a sensation, so Too Faced smartly decided to up the number of shades it was offered in. I went back to Ulta and purchased a new bottle of Golden, (perhaps the first time I have ever used a foundation to the Q-Tip swabbing end, I might add), giving it no thought, until the next morning when I opened it to apply it.

Surprisingly the color was perceptibly different!  How could this be??? Fortunately, I still had the original, plus my receipt for the newly purchased one. Assuming it was just an off bottle, I went back and inspected each and every one, side by side with my original, nothing matched. I corralled several associates to confirm my assertion that I wasn't a madwoman.  The verdict was unanimous. Crazy shade not crazy woman.  

Return accepted.

My hope was, the problem was just Ulta's , so I tried my luck at Sephora. Same sorry tale.  Here's the thing.  Too Faced did a great thing by expanding the shades it is offered in, because, in theory, minus one,  many more people would be able to use it. It really is an amazing product and I highly recommend you sample it.

So, bitterly, we parted ways,  yet still, I couldn't resist buying Too Faced Born This Way Concealer. Some how, some way, I hoped my love affair could be rekindled.

Partie deux, tomorrow.

xox,
DD

L'Oreal Revitalift Bright Reveal Cleanser

L'Oreal Revitalift Bright Reveal Cleanser
$8.99 5 oz. (less anywhere other than Greenwich Ct.)

I've been writing a lot about my cleanser proclivities lately. Wipes (Aveeno Ultra Calming)  soaps (Cetaphil), glycolic pads (also Revitalift) and now onto cleansers.

I have always rotated in an exfoliant and a glycolic cleansers into my nightly routine.   Surprisingly, I ran out of both at the same time. One was an excellent, though not inexpensive microdermabrasion cleanser by Exuviance ($72), the other an excellent but not inexpensive glycolic wash made by Glytone ($32).

I hadn't quite decided what my next step was going to be about replacing them.
Lately,  I have been on a L'Oreal Revitalift jag, using both their day and night cream, and their glycolic pads.  While on a recent CVS run, I spotted Revitalift Bright Reveal Cleanser.  Nicely, it contains both glycolic acid and micro cleansing "pearls", a nice word for grit.

Kismet!  A twofer, from a brand I've been having very nice results with.

Aveeno Ulta Calming Makeup Removing Wipes

Aveeno Ulta Calming Makeup Removing Wipes
$8.99

I'm never without some type of makeup removing towelette. I'm a wee obsessive about making sure that my skin is scrupulously clean every single night before bed.  I often start off with them just to loosen up my makeup and mascara, then forging on to a cleanser or soap (My new love is Cetaphil), eye makeup remover and often a gentle toner.

I think I have tried nearly every other makeup wipe in CVS; Neutrogena, every Olay incarnation, Garnier, Pond's,  Simple something,  but never Aveeno's.

I made a note to try them , after seeing them in a Best of Beauty round up, the next time I was getting low (they tend to be somewhat dry and worthless at the point that you hit, the 25th of that 30 count.)

Back to Basics; Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar

Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar
$3.99

Remember when we all used to wash our face with soap?  What a concept!

It probably takes me twice as long to pack my toiletries and cosmetics when I travel, than it does my clothing.  This is the time that the gazillion samples I have stashed come in handy.  Usually, I don't miss a thing and if I do, it's easy enough to replace them...the next day. Day one at midnight, your 'spit' out of luck...

I was recently away and forgot my cleanser.  Good God! I was going to have to slum it and wash with a bar of Molton Brown Soap.  Poor me!

Turns out, I liked it! It smelled delicious, it lathered nicely, it gently removed every itty bit of makeup and transporting me back to my childhood.