Ulta 21 Days of Beauty 2013!

Ulta 21 Days of Beauty 2013

It's that time of year again! Ulta Beauty is hosting their bi-annual 21 Days of Beauty event at Ulta stores. The event will showcase Ulta's Spring and Summer trends, as well as provide makeup and skincare consultations and demonstrations from several brands in order for you to find the perfect products to suit you. There's also of course special offers and my favorite part of it all - the "Beauty Steals" which features a new product every day. The event will start March 10th and will be ending on March 30th. Appointments for each event are recommended, so make sure to visit your local ULTA store and sign up!

Continue reading for the full calendar of events-

Week 1 Events

SUN: 3/10
bareMinerals
Learn how to get flawless natural beauty with bareMinerals best sellers
Lorac
See how one palette can give you 3 gorgeous looks
Philosophy
Recapture hydration to eliminate wrinkles

MON: 3/11
Stila
Learn how luxurious complexion starts with perfectly prepped skin
Dermalogica
We'll give you a skin analysis and match you with the perfect skincare regime

Physicians Formula Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Balm Concealer Review, Photos, Swatches!

Physicians Formula Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Balm Concealer

Physicians Formula Super BB All-in-1 Beauty Balm Concealer ($12.95) is new twist-pen style concealer that's a part of the Physicians Formula Super BB line. The line consists of a BB Cream, concealer and powder that are all designed to perfectly compliment each other. The BB concealer is said to diminish the appearance of dark circles, puffiness, imperfections, blemishes, redness and uneven skin tone.

Physicians Formula Super BB Concealer is available in two shades: Light/Medium and Medium/Deep. I purchased Light/Medium which I'd consider to be around the MAC NC20 coloring. It's peachy toned, so it's ideal for covering up under eye darkness.

The consistency is very thin and creamy. If you're familiar with MAC Select Moisturecover Concealer, it has that similar thin, wet consistency, but creamy to the touch.

One quarter of a twist provides enough product for one eye. I apply it directly from the brush to my undereyes and then lightly pat the product with my finger tips to blend. Patting works best with this concealer as opposed to wiping to provide the best coverage. The product diffuses into the skin without much of a trace. It has a healthy, dewy (not greasy) finish much like the BB cream.

The coverage is light and can be slightly built, but not up to much. With two layers it can be built to a light-medium, but still fairly sheer. It never fully reaches what I'd consider to be medium coverage.

It doesn't completely camouflage my under eye darkness, but it does slightly lighten them up. Since I like a pretty opaque undereye coverage, I usually apply my regular concealer prior to my foundation and then after my foundation I like applying a brightener - something like YSL Touche Eclat or MAC Prep & Prime Highlighter. Sometimes I use a lighter concealer, and this seems to work pretty well for that. It's not opaque enough to do major brightening, but because of it's thin consistency and blendability, it's ideal for layering since it will never look thick or cakey.

It doesn't settle in my fine lines and it feels lightweight on the skin.

Here's the before and after of one layer. You can see from the after photo that some darkness is still visible and you can faintly see my sun spots.

Physicians Formula Super BB Cream Review, Photos, Swatches!

Physicians Formula Super BB Cream

Physicians Formula Super BB Cream ($14.95) is a new all-in-one "miracle" multi-tasking cream that combines a hydrating moisturizer, light foundation and sun protection so you can simplify your morning beauty routine.

BB Creams (or beauty/blemish balms) are hugely popular because of the versatility of the product itself. You don't need a moisturizer, serum, primer, sunscreen or foundation because most BB creams do it all for you. Depending on the BB cream, it can treat blemishes/acne and provide anti-ageing. The coverage is typically light, but there are some pigmented formulas out there.

The Physicians Formula Super BB Cream is actually the first BB Cream I've ever tried. Quite honestly the sale tag at CVS and the holographic letting on the tube sealed the deal for me. (I'm pretty easy to please.)

Physicians Formula Super BB Cream is available in two shades: Light/Medium and Medium/Deep. I chose Light/Medium because it looked a little warmer than Medium/Deep. It's a little light for me, but definitely workable with some bronzer.

The consistency is thick and super creamy, so it blends really easily on the skin. Most of the time I apply the product with my fingers as I would apply a moisturizer and work it into my skin until blended. Then if I need any additional coverage, I'll apply a little extra product on a buffing brush and build the coverage wherever needed.

The coverage is light, but it builds really well to a medium coverage. It covers and perfects just about everything on my face unless I have a really red blemish, I might need extra concealing.

It provides a dewy (not oily) finish to the skin. I usually use a light setting of powder and I'm good for most of the day. With the creaminess of the product I'd almost expect it to crease after a few hours (around my mouth and such) and get oily, but it doesn't at all. It stays perfectly in place. (I have very normal or balanced skin for reference).

Here I am wearing Physicians Formula BB Cream, my brows filled in, tiny bit of mascara and a little lipgloss. My typical morning face.

Weekly Poll Results - What's One Item of Makeup you Can't Leave your House Without Wearing?

What's One Item of Makeup you Can't Leave your House Without Wearing?

I'm sure all of us beauty fanatics alike have become sort of accustomed to the way we look with makeup, so when we aren't wearing something in particular, we feel a little.. well.. naked. I remember a time period where I wore false eyelashes (snipped in half.. nothing crazy) just about every day. Then when I stopped, it took some time adjusting to the way I actually look without false lashes because to me without false lashes, it always looked like there was something missing on my face.

There's also the times where I had really over plucked eyebrows. I barely let anyone see me without my eyebrows colored in. I use to apply She Laq (discontinued product by Benefit to seal your makeup) to my brows at night so I'd wake up with my brows still filled. Only to wash my face and fill them in again. I guess we all go through phases.

Whatever it may be - maybe the greatest concealer ever or a really good mascara, many of us have that one item of makeup that we need to get through the day.

So the question was, what is one item of makeup you can't leave your house without wearing? (Or at least would prefer not to leave the house without wearing.. haha!)

The Results Are:

Foundation, Tinted Moisturizer or BB Cream - 73 votes (18%) 
Concealer - 37 votes (9%)
Mascara - 93 votes (23%)
Brow Filler - 18 votes (4%)
Eyeliner - 27 votes (6%)
Eyeshadow - 5 votes (1%)
Bronzer or Blush - 10 votes (2%)
Lipstick, Gloss or Balm - 41 votes (10%)
I can't choose only one! - 55 votes (14%)
I can get away with wearing no makeup at all! - 30 votes (7%)
Other - 0 votes (0%)

This poll is based on 389 votes.

The number one answer is mascara!

I'm having a hard time choosing, but I know that when I'm about to go run errands and I have no makeup on, I almost always need to conceal my undereyes because they're naturally reddish purple. My second next important thing is filling in my brows, and then mascara. I could very well go without a foundation if I have a concealer on many days, but since I can only choose one, my answer would be foundation.

How about you? What would you choose?