Maybelline: Dream Wonder Powder and More!

When Maybelline shows love, they truly show love! Just look at the generous amount of beauty products that were sent my way and you shall get an overall feel of the latest launches.

I decided to swatch it slowly and use the products daily to get a true feel for the collections. 

Today I chose the Dream Wonder Powder in Porcelain Ivory ( $ 9.99), Maybelline New York's New Face Studio Master Hi-Light in Pink Rose ( $ 9.99) and Maybelline New York Expertwear Eyeshadow Quad in Luminous Lilacs ( $ 6.25). Note there are 48 new shades added to this popular Expertwear Eyeshadow Collection!

There are 16 shades available in the Dream Wonder Powder collection and my Porcelain Ivory applied effortlessly. The Dream Wonder Powder uses wet process technology that has an ultra fine creamy texture that leaves your skin looking silky soft. 

There is also a Master Glaze Glisten Blush Stick ( $ 8.99) that gives a dewy gently glazed look to your cheeks. I chose to use the Face Studio Master Hi-Light Blush ( $ 9.99) as I was attracted to all of the colors in the product and wanted to see how they meshed together on my cheeks. Available in 4 Blush Palettes, my cheeks shimmered but not too much. The balance of color to shimmer enhanced my all- over natural brightness. I was not too sparkly and the pop of color was lovely on the apples of my cheeks. There are also 2 Bronzer Palettes for those of you that want a warmer overall radiance. 

The 48 NEW shades added to the popular Expertwear Eyeshadow Collection are available in singles ( $ 3.75), duos ( $ 4.50), trios ( $ 5.50) and quads ( $ 6.25). The new packaging is sleek and the formula has perlite complex to control oil and allow for up to 12 hours of wear! The colors are extremely rich and the possible eye looks endless.

The lippy's I swatched on my inner arm as you all know I generally wear my signature red lippy! They are lovely and nude. The new collection of raw, real nude lipstick is called In The Buff and are available for $ 7.49 each. 

There are 10 born to be naked shades available and the colors are creamy, bold and impact ful thanks to their honey- nectar infused formula. Colors swatched are Bare All, Truffle Tease, Touchable Taupe, Untainted Spice and Espresso Exposed.

More to come on their Spring 2014 and Summer Collections...soon! XO

Alterna Haircare: New Spring Launches You'll Want

This is a mere teaser until I can go into more depth....but today I learned through a "strand test" that my hair was in pretty good shape still after my constant bleaching/coloring yet needed a boost of protection.  It was deemed "dancing" hair but it did not float to the top of the water glass as it would have had it been deemed "healthy." You can take the strand test and see what your hair is lacking by merely taking one strand out and placing in into a glass of water. Should it fall to the bottom, most likely it is in dear need of repair. Should it float to the top- keep doing what you are doing and be sure to add sun protection as hair absolutely ages. Bamboo Beach Summer Ocean Waves ($ 20- available at Alterna.com , Ulta, Ulta.com , Nordstrom, Sephora.com, Beauty.com and fine salons nationwide.) would then come into play on a daily use/ It's Alterna's #1 Summer Styler and is super lightweight and is infused with complete color and UVA/UVB protection.

Alterna, believe it or not, started in 1977 and was the first hair care line to introduce anti-aging products for the hair! I have been addicted to their CC Line and now they have added 3 new Caviar treatments- Caviar Anti Aging Perfect Texture Finishing Spray ($28- now available on QVC and will be introduced worldwide in June at Alterna.com and high end boutiques) ,Caviar RepairX Split Ends Mend ($ 35- available at Sephora, Sephora.com, Ulta.com, Alterna.com and fine salons) and Caviar Anti Aging Omega + Nourishing Oil ($ 38- available at fine salons, Sephora and Sephora.com). Perfect Texture brings you today's hottest style of looking perfectly "undone!" It builds body, shape and texture and seeing used it action left my mouth agape. Hair is given a strong blast of texture and shape. Caviar RepairX repairs 93.3% of split ends after just one use! Yes, I quoted that correctly! It mends and seals split ends, strengthens strands to prevent future breakage and also controls frizz. Caviar Anti Aging omega + nourishing ol adds shine and combats dry and brittle hair with a highly concentrated dose of Omega-3 and C22 Fatty Acids. I put this on daily as my hair feels brittle from the flat iron sometimes and I love the shine and scent. It leaves my hair looking silky and smooth.

Another product I am mad crazy about is their new Bamboo Volumizer 2-in-1 Volumizer ( $ 25 starting in May, this will be available at Alterna.com, Sephora.com, Beauty.com, Ulta.com , Ulta stores and high end boutiques and salons worldwide. What I learned about bamboo's strength was astounding and it makes sense that it would be a key ingredient to strengthen hair as well as keeping it moist, protected and healthy. Bamboo has a strengthening wonder about it and architects have been implementing it's use within the foundation of building and the like. This 2-in-1 volumizer can be used on both wet or dry hair to achieve buildable volume. It's lightweight and non-sticky in texture and is perfect for those with limp, lifeless, dull hair in need of volume and lift.

More to come, yet I felt the need to share.....follow @alternahaircare on Twitter and IG #HairTransformation for more fabulous photos...

 

NARS Presents: Adult Swim

Hooray, it's finally warming up! With that being said, NARS Cosmetics is thrilled to introduce its Summer 2014 'Adult Swim' Color collection. Eyes pop with perfectly synchronized eyeshadows including neon lemon lime and icy lavender while smoky rose quartz and bronze add depth and definition. Feel the heat with a soft and sultry peach champagne for cheeks and a bold geranium for nails.

This colorful new collection will become available at NARS boutiques and on NARS Cosmetics  beginning April 15.

Also exciting, the 413 BLKR collection has two new additions: a rosebud blush provides a rich, pop of pink while the shimmering champagne illuminator adds a soft pearlescent sheen to cheeks and face. Wear them layered to create a multi-dimensional cheek look or on their own for a softer, ethereal effect!

Both 413 BLKR shades will become available at NARS boutique and on narscosmetics.com beginning April 1.

Happy Spring shopping! 

Tarte Cosmetics: Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay PRESSED Finishing Powder

Maureen Kelly founded a great company in tarte and I firmly believe the Amazonian Clay blushes are among the longest lasting blushes I have ever worn. I often wear "Amused" as it adds a great pop of color to the apples of my cheeks.

Tarte's Summer 2014 brings a lot of new products and one that I truly needed was Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Pressed Finishing Powder ( $34). As soon as it gets warmer, I tend to get a bit oily in my T-Zone area and this pressed powder does the trick of keeping my face shine free.

This compact and brush applicator deliver tarte's best selling Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder in a pressed format. It's lightweight and feels so smooth to the touch. It helps to mattify your skin, minimize the appearance of pores and also reduces excess oil leaving a soft focus finish. Available now at Sephora, Sephora.com , Ulta, Ulta.com , Macy's and Tarte.com . Hooray for warmer weather!