For the month of June I decided to do an entire month only using the Luminess Air system I received for review at the Makeup Show in May. Last year I tried their spray tan system and I have to say I was really excited to get to try their makeup system. The first thing that everyone would ask if I mentioned airbrushing on Twitter or in general was: 1. Isn’t it hard? 2. Don’t you look like you spray painted your makeup on?

No and no.

After consistently using this system for 30 days straight, I’m hooked. Seriously.

I watched their short video demonstration on how to operate the system, I was already pretty familiar because of the spray tan system but I wanted to make sure I got my technique down. You drop a few drops of makeup in the well of the airbrush, pull back the trigger and spray a light mist over your face. It tickles at first when you try it but you get over that fairly quickly. I sprayed 2 to 3 coats over my face letting each layer dry for about 30 seconds in between. I found the finish to be pretty flawless. You can make the coverage as heavy or as thin as you like (I’ll also do a separate post about another brand of makeup I tried in the system).

The starter kit comes with primer, highlighter, bronzer, blush and several shades of foundation to choose from. I wasn’t a fan of the primer since I use a primer and a good moisturizer already, so I didn’t need the extra layer. I really like the bronzer and added drops of it to the foundation before applying for a nice all around glow or airbrushed my cheekbones to give them a bit more wow factor. I wish the blush shade I had was a bit deeper, I felt like it disappeared a bit under my skin so I’d use a cream blush on the apples of my cheeks before I applied the foundation.

Here’s what I love about airbrush foundation:

• It’s light. Perfect when you want coverage even on a hot and humid day.
• The makeup doesn’t transfer. Sometimes with bottle foundation I find that I still have to blot with tissues to make sure there isn’t excess makeup getting on a white shirt or someone else. I did not have that problem at all.
• The makeup lasts. I would spray on the foundation and do a light dusting of translucent powder afterwards and it would really hold up all day long.
• The finish is flawless. It really does give your skin a smooth, even, perfectly applied layer of foundation. I got several compliments on how great my skin looked in June and really I owe it to Luminess Air. This applies better than liquid foundation.

The system I received for review is the iLuminess that retails for $229, but they have a few different versions outlined here on their website. This version comes with a compact airbrush system and a sleek silver carrying case. I’ve used the case and traveled with it so it does make it very handy. If you can’t afford this system, the larger version is $169.95. If you wear makeup on a daily basis, this is definitely something to consider investing in, I loved it for the ease and quickness of application. Cleaning it is a breeze and I even had to call Customer Service with an issue and they were delightfully helpful to me.

My next step with the system will be to buy eye shadow, I definitely want to try that out and see what I can do with my eye makeup. Feel free to ask me more questions in the comments, I’ll answer it all. I truly, truly enjoyed this system. It’s definitely worth the investment in my eyes.

April's Makeup

May's Makeup

I’m not going to lie, I’ve been a bit lazy with my beauty challenge posting. Sorry.

April I took the photos but didn’t post them to the Flick Set and in May I only took about a dozen shots. Was I not at work much? Because normally I take a pic before I leave for work in the morning and I think I took a little time off and that threw off my normal schedule.

These last 2 months I’ve gone back to my security blanket, eye shadow! I’m still in love with Bare Escentuals Oz shadow, this gorgeous emerald green shade that won’t stop making me smile whenever I put it on. I also discovered a new eyeliner that will be in my summer rotation, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On eye pencil in Covet has become a favorite too. It’s a peacock green, it’s not exactly teal and not a true Kelly green but it’s definitely my favorite.

Since I’ve gone bold on the eyes or done fun liner (check out my bright blue Milani Infinite liquid liner in Infinite a bright blue on the may set) I’ve been sticking to pink or glossy nude lips. I  haven’t been that satisfied with my lip color pairings lately, I’m just on a quest for that perfect color. I came close with my Three Custom color lip gloss but I’m still on a mission for something more. I may have to go back to them and try to develop another color.

I also threw in a few red and deep orange lips as well. I picked up some new colors at the Makeup Show so hopefully I will find what I’ve been craving in terms of lipstick.

Oh and my makeup has changed a bit as you go into my May looks. I’ve been testing out airbrush makeup and I’ll have to talk about that in it’s own separate post. I didn’t think I’d love it but I kind of do. There are 2 brands that I’ve been switching back and forth on with my airbrush machine and I love the soft perfect finish it gives my skin and I think it lasts even longer than traditional foundation.

So I’ve got lots more makeup talk to come. Have any of you tried anything new makeup wise lately that I should try to? Let me know, I’m always searching for the latest and greatest.

There is nothing in this world that seems to make me more giddy than makeup. That’s why I was like a kid in the candy store at The Makeup Show. I know I haven’t talked about the show YET, but I bought something that isn’t in stores yet but is so PHENOMENAL I want everyone to own it.

Make Up For Ever Aqua Creams are about to be the most used thing in my makeup kit, especially for summer and I think you will love them as much as I do. These are waterproof colors for eyes, lips and cheeks and they LAST, LAST, LAST, LAST.

Don’t believe me? I decided to test them out, I own colors 1 – Anthracite, 7 – Fuchsia and 15 – Taupe. They all have a gorgeous shimmer to them that is subtle and not over the top but they are loaded with pigment.  A little goes a long way which means these jars will last you a long time and will be totally worth the $22 price tag. I decided to try out taupe on my eyelids without any primer or foundation on the lids. I wanted to see how long it would wear and I was going to the gym on a heavy cardio day so I knew I could really put it to the test. Through my work day and then a heavy sweating session my eye makeup did not budge. It didn’t smudge, fade or run a single bit. I was sold. A product that looks amazing and seriously lasts and will last through a humid day?! I’m all over it.

I dabbed the fuchsia on my lips and cheeks and had the most radiant flush the entire day and I’ve used the smoky black/grey as a liner and it was insane how long it lasted. I got to pick these up at the Makeup Show at a discount and I’m kicking myself for not buying every single color they have. The green, blue and teal and insanely gorgeous.

If you are a Sephora Beauty Insider you can order them now (link above) and I promise you, you will not be disappointed. This is one of the most phenomenal beauty products I’ve gotten my hands on in a long time and I’ll definitely be wearing them all summer long. This was just too good to not share now, especially if you can order them online before they hit the stores in June. You will definitely see these in my Beauty Challenge photos over and over again because I am in serious love with these. They are BRILLIANT!

Have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo,
dwj

I came home last week to a package and a challenge from the folks at Bare Escentuals, they wanted bloggers like myself to “feel the rush of color,” and try our best looks with 15 eye shadows. There was a deck of cards listing a ton of Bare Escentuals colors (I own several so I pulled the cards out of the deck that I didn’t own) and you could either deal yourself a new set of cards each day (see picture below) or you could try their list of pairings on a card included. I being lazy decided to just go with their preselected sets of colors that went together. I was nervous because there was a pink in the bunch that was terrifying to me BUT I love a great challenge and this went right along with what I wanted to accomplish with the beauty challenge this year.
I have used Bare Escentuals eye colors for a long time. I love loose powder shadow and with these shadows you can wear them as a shadow or liner, dry or wet. The Bare Escentuals folks were also kind enough to include Prime Time Eyelid Primer (because primer is key in eye shadow application) and their Flawless Definition Mascara – one that I had never tried before. So enough chatting, let me tell you what colors I used. For all days I used all Bare Escentuals products. Either the Flawless Definition Mascara or Buxom Lash, Matte or Original Bare Escentuals Foundation and Mineral Veil and either I’m Amused Rouge or Radiance on my cheeks. My lips were coated with an assortment of Buxom Lip glosses throughout the week as well. All products can be found on the Bare Escentuals website or Sephora stores.

• Day 1: Culture Pearl, Wildflower, Black Ice, Midnight Sky | I figured I’d start this challenge off with a bang and try the vivid pink shadow I was terrified off, Wildflower. In the pot it looks kind of hot pink and scary, but on my lid you’ll see it’s really more iridescent and is a soft purple and pink combined. I used that as the main color on the lid and lined with Midnight Sky. Black Ice was all over the lid from the the lashes to above the crease and Cultued Pearl was on my brown bone. I liked this palette together.
• Day 2: Soul, Sex Kitten, True Gold, Soft Black | This day was really about bronze and softness around my eyes. The colors went from champagne to golden and Soft Black was used as my liner. I wet it a bet to help it stand out a bit more against the bronze since it matched my skin tone fairly nicely. I usually don’t do bronze but I thought this could be a great summer look and I should pair it with a coral lip.
• Day 3: 2000, Chameleon, Twilight, Soft Black | This day I did more of a smoky shimmering eye. Loved the pale blues and silvers, and I loved how bright my eyes looked. Twilight was blended into my crease to give it a smoky look with the soft black lining my upper and lower lash line. LOVE!
• Day 4: Black Ice, Nude Beach, Patience | I thought this day was a very traditionl palette for a smoky eye. Patience is a lovely dove grey and Black Ice is a darker, graphite grey. I used Nude Beach as the all over lid color. I like grey palettes for most days, so I would’ve put these all together on my own.
• Day 5: Oz, Queen Phyllis, Soul, Soft Black | Oh my favorite day of them all because Oz is the most BEAUTIFUL green shadow I’ve ever seen. That had to be the stand out color of my makeup so I made sure to wet the shadow and apply it all over the lid. I almost didn’t want to liner my lids with Soft Black but I did. I can’t rave enough about Oz, it’s such a beautiful and sparkly green gem – I want to wear it every day. True story.

I also have to say that the Flawless Definition Mascara is quite nice. The comb is tiny and has these little comb ends on it that I felt like really gripped my lashes and coated them so they looked seriously long. Always a plus in my book. If you want to see more of the pictures and get to see the looks up close make sure to check out my 2010 Beauty Challenge set on Flickr and I’ll do a recap of my month’s beauty looks at the end of the month. Definitely check out Bare Escentuals eye colors online – there are TONS of options. I’ve got my sights set on a lovely vivid purple shadow next! I love color and they really know how to give a girl variety.

So are you ready to jump into color now for spring? What are you trying to do to liven up your beauty routine?

I told you guys that instead of doing a weekly Beauty Challenge I was going to switch it up to monthly, so this is what March looked like. 19 images of my makeup for March and I’m not going to lie…I was on a serious eyeliner kick.

Ever since I got my makeup done at a Bobbi Brown event I’ve been obsessed with slightly winged out black eyeliner. So there was a lot of it this month. The lipstick shades also varied from berry pinks to deeper orange and red tones. I was trying something new and I’m liking it. I can honestly say that my go to look is now a winged out black liner with deep orange/raisin colored lips and warm coral cheeks. It makes me happy.

For next week I’ll be participating in a Bare Escentuals Blogger Color Makeup Challenge so I’ll post pics next week of all the makeup I’m doing this week and still incorporate that into my monthly post for April. Bare Escentuals sent me some great colors and colors I would never think to buy but I’ve already fallen in love with a shocking pink shadow I would’ve never thought would look good on. But that just goes to show you, with makeup you’ll truly never know until you try.

If you want to know what products I used for each look you can always go to the Flickr set I’ve set up for my 2010 Beauty Challenge. You can also check any of the images out in a much larger format (don’t you just want to see my eyebrows up close? LOL).

And tell me, what new beauty tricks did you try recently? Help me branch out into something new for this month!