Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Review: Keromask Concealer in the shade "Light" - A Great Full Coverage Concealer!

Keromask Concealer (Sample)

Product Description - Keromask® Masking Cream by Christy UK, is an ultra-highly pigmented and extremely concentrated camouflage cream for disguising a variety of common skin problems, large or small, such as:

Age spots • Acne marks and scars • Birthmarks • Broken capillaries • Bruises and Post-operative bruising • Burn Scars • Dark circles under the eyes • Eczema • Flushing • Moles • Permanent pigmentation problems • Port wine stains • Psoriasis • Rosacea • Scar discoloration • Tattoos • Temporary discoloration • Varicose veins • Vitiligo • And more…

Powerfully concentrated, just a small pin-drop of Keromask® is all that’s needed for many kinds of skin discoloration coverages. Generally one thin smoothed layer is sufficient coverage for most situations. However, in the case of very prominent discolorations, additional thinly applied layers of cream is more effective. Everyday make-up can be applied over a sealed area of Keromask® without disturbing it.
Keromask has an SPF12 sunscreen and is 100% waterproof when sealed with a loose finishing/setting powder. Keromask can also be worn when swimming or playing sports, and just one application can last up to eight hours, providing you with effective coverage throughout your day.

It is not animal tested.

(Source: http://keromaskmaskingcream.com)

Color Choices

You may have remembered from my latest http://www.camerareadycomsetics.com (no affiliation) haul, I purchased a sample of Keromask concealer on complete impulse because I had to spend one more dollar to qualify for free shipping.

The sample costs $3.99 and is shipped in a small plastic screw top jar. The purpose of purchasing a sample is to accurately test the color on your skin tone before purchasing a full size product. It is supposed to be enough product for a few uses. I had my fingers crossed that the sample was going to be a little more generous - but they only provided a small dab.. Luckily, with this concealer a little goes a long way - So I've been able to test the product out for days.

It was a little difficult finding swatches or many reviews for Keromask, so I chose the shade "light", which is described to fit "normal" skin tones and is most likely the most popular color. I could of probably used medium as well if I wanted to match my skin tone.. but I prefer my concealer to be a little bit lighter (not much) to give my face more dimension.

The color looked slightly dark and pink in the jar, and I didn't think it was going to work out good.. BUT, I was surprised to see that once I swatched it, it appeared much lighter and less pink.

It actually has that salmon/peachy coloring that works so well for masking under eye darkness.

I apologize that my before and after photos aren't that great. My under eye darkness is much more visible in person than it is in my before photo. I have a reddish purple under my eyes and its a darker blue purple in the corners.

You can visibly see in the after photo that it has completely covered any darkness and redness and evened out my skin tone. It has also brightened the area.

It is very visible that the finish is slightly dewy.

Review: Let me start out by saying that this concealer is amazing for full coverage. Like I said, I purchased a sample on a complete whim.. I've never heard of it and didn't research it. When I first swatched the concealer, my eyes literally lit up because I didn't expect it to be so creamy and so pigmented. I'm not going to say "typically".. but often times "full coverage" concealers tend to be dry in texture and don't "smooth" that easily on your skin. Often times it's required to moisturize your under eyes first. This concealer is so different. The texture is so buttery smooth.. The closest comparison in consistency is the Bobbi Brown Corrector.. the finish is actually like the Corrector as well.. but it covers more. The first few days wearing this I would moisturize under my eyes and then apply it with my MAC 224 brush. It provided a complete full coverage without looking heavy or thick. One day I just put a little under my eyes and on a couple of blemishes and went to run a few errands and because of the creamy consistency, it settled in my fine lines & was slightly "wet" looking? This didn't happen on days where I wore foundation & powder. With most of my concealers.. I need to "build" the coverage.. so naturally, I was applying more product than I needed. The past couple of days I've been using my finger to apply it.. and it has been working fantastic, as I'm not applying as much. I haven't noticed any creasing. It claims to be waterproof and from what I've noticed.. it lasts all day on me without fading. It brightens under my eyes and covers blemishes 100%!! I am so amazed with this concealer and I believe that this is HG material and everything I've been looking for in a concealer.

If you're looking for a moisturizing, full coverage concealer and you feel you've tried everything.. I highly recommend you to give it a try!

The only downside for me is that it's very expensive. It's $42.. but it's said to last for over a year because of the high pigmentation.

If you check out the website (http://keromaskmaskingcream.com/) you'll see on the front page that they have a video showing how it can cover up a tattoo.

Have you heard of this brand or tried this concealer? Let me know your opinion in the comments!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

NOTD: Nude Nails with Love & Beauty (Forever 21) Nail Polish in Nude!

Two (2) coats of Love & Beauty "Nude" Nail Polish & one (1) coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat. My middle fingernail is looking a little odd because the corner of it chipped pretty bad. I had to file all of my nails down so they somewhat matched in length.

I really like wearing nude colors on my nails, but I rarely ever wear them. Mainly because I don't really like the way it looks with my self tanner. But, since I've been going real light on the self tanner lately, I thought this would be a pretty neutral shade.

It's a warm pinky nude that I think is very flattering on my skin tone. Neutral colors on your nails are supposed to elongate your fingers and I actually do think this polish blends in with my hands at a glance and makes my fingers appear longer. The color is soft and milky, but it's not too light or pastel. I'm very happy to say that the formula is opaque and you only need two coats. Many nude polishes are too sheer, which require additional coats. And additional coats for me typically mean that all of my nails are going to smudge (I never wait long enough in between coats).

Anyway, great shade and I'm sure I'll be using this again and again.

My last NOTD (love & beauty forest green) actually lasted pretty long. It lasted a full week with one minor chip. Very nice for a Forever 21 polish!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day! (My Weekend)

Hey Everyone!
Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you all had a great weekend!

I've had a few requests to "review" George's Birthday and Valentine's Day. And although I like to keep my blog beauty related, I do a personal post here and there. So here it is.. :)

I mentioned Friday that I was going away for the weekend. I had actually posted that on my way out the door, coat on and everything - so my thoughts weren't very well organized. I may go back and edit it or possibly post a full review of Cinema Secrets at a later time.

Anyway, our destination for the weekend was New Buffalo, Michigan to stay at the Four Winds Casino Resort. I've never been to Michigan, even though it's so close by. It's only around 90 miles away.. which is around a 2 hour drive.
(Photo Credit: www.newbuffalo.com)

We arrived Friday night.. maybe around 10 PM or so. While George was downstairs, I had quickly decorated the room. I made a rose petal trail from the door all the way to the bed where I had a little bunch of roses and a picture frame with a picture of us.
He loves my baking, so the night before I made peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips and chunks of Reese's peanut butter cups (his favorite) and chocolate truffles. A couple of years back a friend taught me this awesome recipe that consisted of cream cheese, Oreo's and white chocolate. All you had to do was crunch up the Oreo's into little crumbs and mix it with the cream cheese. Roll the mixture into small balls and dip them in white chocolate. Simply delicious! I did my own take on them and made two different fillings. One with cream cheese, peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs & a little sugar and the other filling was the same thing, but instead of peanut butter.. I used Nutella. They were sooo yummy!

I put the yummy treats on heart shaped plates. I also purchased lots of goodies from Rocky Mountain Chocolate in the mall which I also put on small heart shaped plates and put them around the room. (chocolate dipped strawberries, chocolate dipped rice krispy treats, chocolate dipped oreos, chocolate dipped marshmallows, etc)
The hotel room consisted of a bedroom and a sitting area with couches where you can watch tv, etc.. so in the sitting area I lined up all his gifts & cards on the tables. I also purchased a bottle of Nuvo, a "Sparkling French Liqueur" and put the bottle in some ice, next to two wine glasses (yes, it's not wine - but I had to improvise LOL). Neither of us drink, but I thought we'd give it a try. It came in a very pretty pink bottle.

Here's a peek inside one of the cards (Yes, I bought him more than one). The front of the card was a black and white photo of a little girl and boy holding hands - so on the inside, I made copies of baby pictures of me and him, cut them out in heart shapes and glued them inside the card. He loved it.. lol

Ever since we've started dating, George has always cut out the "Love is" poems from the newspaper and given them to me (if he thought it pertained to us). I copied all of my favorite ones and gave them back to him. We read them together and had some laughs. I also put fake Valentine themed lottery tickets all over the room for him to scratch for fun.. haha!

Lastly, I lit some red candles that I placed all over the room & when he walked in the room he was so surprised and loved every bit.

We wasted no time and went down to the casino where he played poker, and I played slot machines. We stayed at the casino all night and went back up to the room to eat a bunch of the goodies & get some rest.

We had some fun at the Casino again on Saturday and went to dinner. The restaurants were packed for Valentine's Day, so we ended up eating at the Buffet. No complaints! I was very surprised by the quality of food they had. Everything was very good!

I always like taking pictures of my dessert...

Then George joined me and played slots and we ended up playing till around 5 AM.. We were both zombies by that time & we went back upstairs and slept like babies :)

Sunday morning we stayed for lunch and made it back home by the evening. It was a really nice time! I really didn't take any pictures.. Me and George weren't in the "picture mood" all weekend.

As for today, Valentine's Day.. I'm not doing anything because George unfortunately is working late. He did bring me flowers, a card and balloon in the morning which was sweet.. But no going out for me today :( I'm not bummed though because we kind of combined Valentine's Day into George's Birthday.. and it was kind of like a Valentine's/Birthday weekend. 

That's pretty much it! What are your plans for tonight? Anyone staying home too??

OCC Hush, Divine and Trick Lip Tars Review and Swatches!

OCC Divine, Trick and Hush Lip Tars

For a brief review, Obsessive Compulsive Lip Tars are ultra-pigmented lip colors that combine the opaque pigment of a lipstick with the ease and application of a lipgloss. In fact, they are so pigmented that you can't apply them directly from the tube. For the best results, the use of a lip brush (or your finger) is needed. They feel incredibly light on the lips, and are comfortable to wear. There is a large selection of colors, which are meant to be mixed to create your own unique lip color!

After trying out my first Obsessive Compulsive Lip Tar in the shade Cha Cha a few months back, I knew I wanted to purchase more shades. So, like I mentioned in my haul post this past Wednesday, I caved in and purchased three more lip tars. I chose shades that don't require mixing and would be practical for every day.

After going through countless swatches of lip tars via google, I decided on Trick, Hush and Divine.

Trick is a light-medium, neutral peach-beige with a hint of pink-brown.
Hush is a light, neutral, mauvey pink.
Divine is a bright neon coral-pink, or flamingo pink.

occ lip tar swatches
From left to right: Hush, Trick and Divine. 

occ lip tar swatches
Swatches from left to right: Hush, Trick and Divine.