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June 26, 2006

Vital Radiance: makeup that finally acts its age!

Finally, someone has listened to the concerns of those of us with mature skin! For years, make up for "mature" skin meant heavy handed and heavily made up. No more! Vital Radiance, a new range of cosmetics created as a division of Revlon, focuses on makeup needs of those over 50. For those of us with laugh lines (a polite term for wrinkles), feathering lips, age spots, and sagging jaw lines, Vital Radiance does a great job of making one look put together without being heavily made up. I've been using the Vital Radiance products for several weeks and want to share my findings with you.

Dividing their skin care regime into three areas, Prepare, Color and Finish, Vital Radiance offers products which are relatively easy to choose and easy to use! To prepare your face for make up, Vital Radiance Smoothing Face Primer ($18.49) is offered in two shades: Apricot for warm toned skin and Petal for cool tones. I tried the Apricot shade somewhat hesitantly, because I've tried many other primers of this sort in the past and they left me looking too orangey... Smoothing Face Primer is so sheer that it basically just wakes up your skin a little bit . I don't use it everyday, but it really does the trick as far as smoothing out your face in preparation for your foundation.

Vital Radiance Dark Circle Corrector ($14.49) comes in one yellow-based shade and works wonders under your eyes. It is reminiscent of Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch, but at a much lower price! Vital Radiance Spot Concealer ($15.49) comes with in a tube with a wand applicator, but can also be applied with a brush. Available in four shades, I chose Light/Medium. This product holds its own against any other high end department store brand concealer I have used and I recommend it!

The piece de resistance of Vital Radiance's fine roster of products is their trio of foundations. I have tried all three. Vital Radiance Rehydrating Line Softening Makeup ($19.49) for normal to dry skin has a moisture laden formula that will not settle into lines, and it covers without looking caked on. Vital Radiance Pore Refining Line Softening Makeup ($19.49) is for oily and combo skin. Lightweight and oil free, I've tried it on my normal-dry skin and love it, too! It has a sheer matte finish and, with a base of your own moisturizer, is a great choice for Washington's already hot and humid summer weather! Both of these products are packaged in a slender tube with a pump dispenser, which is a plus by itself! Vital Radiance Moisture Covering Compact Makeup ($20) is a great cream foundation that glides on to cover age spots and freckles. Sand is my color of choice; it's the lightest warm-toned foundation shade. All three foundations can be layered. If you only try one thing in the Vital Radiance range, try one of these foundations. You won't be sorry!

To finish off your foundation, try Vital Radiance Powder Blush Soft Dimension Cheek Color ($17.49). Available in five color combos, each compact contains a flower design comprised of three shades of blush. I tried Pink Radiance and Coral Radiance. For those of you with fair skin you may have to experiment a bit to not get too much blush on your brush. The colors are lovely, however, and look great on!

Vital Radiance Smoothing Eye Primer ($14.49) is a cream product which works as a primer to hold your eye shadow in place. I usually use Benefit LemonAid as a base and also on its own. Vital Radiance Smoothing Eye Primer works just as well, although the color is more skin-toned than yellow. Vital Radiance EasyBlending Mousse Eye Shadow ($14.49) has a whipped texture and comes in neutral, easy-blending colors. I tried Champagne Light and Rose Light. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but Vital Radiance also makes a powder shadow, Vital Radiance Soft Dimension Powder Shadow ($16.49), which comes in a compact with three shades and a double ended application. Vital Radiance Soft Defining Eyeliner ($13.49) is one of my favorites! With a creamy formula that glides right one, I especially like the sponge smudger at the opposite end of the pencil! The colors are subtle. I especially like Soft Plum and Soft Denim.

To finish off your Vital Radiance look, try Vital Radiance Anti-Feathering Smoothing Lip Primer ($13.49). Feathering lipstick is the bain of many aging baby-boomer's existence and this will help keep it under control. Vital Radiance Moisture Boosting Lipcolor ($14.49) offers a creamy lipstick with a lot of pigment. The colors are great, too. My only complaint is the packaging. On the shelf, with heavy plastic packaging and just a little bit of color showing through the tube, it's almost impossible to know what color you are really buying. The lipsticks themselves are not in regular tubes, but packaging similar to lipbalm.
There is nothing about any of the Vital Radiance products that limit their use to only those over 50! Everyone of the products can be used by anyone, especially the foundations. Give them a try, I think you'll like them!

Vital Radiance is not widely available yet. You can check on the vitalradiance.com website for a store location near you. I've listed prices from drugstore.com, but Vital Radiance is also available online at walgreens.com and ulta.com and at select Rite Aid, Target and Walmart locations. Walgreen's and Ulta have recently run specials on the Vital Radiance products, both online and in their stores. I always suggest you comparison shop online before you make a purchase.

Happy Shopping!

- Judith
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Posted by heather at 3:04 PM

June 15, 2006

I love summer

Ahh, I absolutely love the summertime. I really love knowing it is coming, anticipating the warm weather, fun in the sun, and longer days. Not only do I love this time of year, I also love using it as an excuse to stock up on some beauty loot. How can my husband say no when I tell him I need a good sunscreen to ward off wrinkles? :) I also really like the make-up colors for summertime. Shimmery, bronzy, sexy skin is soooo in, and we need something that makes our sun-fried tresses soft again. To accomplish the bronze goddess look with perfect hair, I went shopping and here's what I bought.

I live in an area with tons of water, and I can expect to be in it or outside every weekend. Living in Southeast Texas, there is no shortage of sunshine, but with that there is a price to pay; hot, humid weather that can wreak havoc on your skin and hair. Luckily, I save my face with Estee Lauder Sun Care Multi-Protection Sun Lotion for Face ($22). I've used this stuff for several years and love it. It is one of a small number of sunscreens that will not irritate my face. I can actually apply it around noon before heading outside and spend the day without having to reapply it. The consistency is smooth and thick, so you only need a small bit to cover your whole face. I think they changed the formulation, because last year it had a pleasant scent that I adored, but this year comes with new packaging and no scent.

Another favorite product from Estee Lauder is the After Sun Rehydrator for Body ($18.50). This is the most awesome after-sun body care I've ever used. A few weeks ago, I didn't pay attention to how red my chest was getting and before I knew it, I was fried. It was quite painful and I surely thought I'd peel. During the first couple of days when my skin was most sensitive and painful, I applied After Sun 4-5 times a day and the red subsided quickly and most of the pain was gone within the first day. And I did not peel, so I am happy!

I've not used Stila in a while and their new summer line certainly intrigued me enough to purchase it. I bought the Cheek Color Duo in Bronze/Rose, Eye Shadow Trio in Gold Glow and Sun Highlighter. The cheek color is a duo of a bronze and rose shade that has more pink than bronze, but it has just enough of each to look soft and fabulous. It is not chalky and does not streak and is perfect for creating pretty, flushed cheeks. The eye shadow trio has a champagne/ivory shade with the most beautiful shimmer, chocolate brown with shimmer, and copper bronzy-pink with shimmer. These colors are so beautiful and go together so well. I love to take the darker brown shade and use it as a liner or to smudge along my lower lash line, then take the champagne shimmery shade and apply it near the corners of my eyes and lightly line it along the darker line to add some light to my eyes. The coppery color works as a great color for the crease. Lastly, for all-over bronzing and highlighting, I used the Sun Highlighter. Since I don't tan my face, I like my bronzers to have the ability to be used all over my face to darken it to match my tanned body, or use as a blush otherwise. I don't like this as an all-over bronzer, but it is nice as a highlighter or blush for my cheeks. Apply with a light hand, blend, and you're good to go. I didn't buy a lip product for the set, so I used my all-time favorite lipstick, Laura Mercier Nude Lips, and it's a perfect match to complete my sexy bronze look. You can find Stila at stilacosmetics.com, Sephora.com, and most high-end department stores.

Another great bronzing powder is Benefit Dallas. It is a perfect bronze-pink pressed powder that is fabulous as a blush and I do like this when applied to my temples, nose and forehead. And I love the little signature Benefit box it comes in! You can find Benefit at Sephora.com or benefitcosmetics.com.

To keep my tresses in tip-top shape while managing the 100% humidity, I purchased Ojon Shine & Protect Shampoo and Shine & Protect Conditioner. Full of goodies to protect your hair from the heat and sun while conditioning it, I found that I really like these and I am surprised because I didn't like the last shampoo and conditioner I tried from Ojon (the hydrating set - it was actually too heavy for my dry, chemically-treated hair). This shampoo and conditioner is very light, not heavy at all, so it does not make your hair feel gooey. It is absolutely perfect for my hair. After a full day of swimming and boat riding, it gets all the tangles out of my hair and makes it nice and soft. I also bought the new Animated Styling Cream. I am on the fence with this product. I like it because it has a bit of hold to it when I use it on wet hair before blow drying straight and it gives me the "next day hair" that I love even at the first washing, but be careful if you use it on wet hair - you only need a bit or you'll have greasy hair. You can also use it as a styling cream on dry hair, but I didn't like it this way. It doesn't run through the hair easily and it's kind of tacky. After you've actually applied it to your hair, it's no longer tacky and your hair doesn't feel that way, either. I guess I am turned off by the potential gumminess and if I didn't like Ojon Conditioning Finishing Paste so darned much, I may like this product better. The Conditioning Paste is something you should check out. It makes my flyaways sit down and behave while providing a nice sheen and an awesome smell. You can find Ojon at Sephora.com.

I was checking out a recent issue of Allure magazine with Eva Longoria on the cover and I absolutely fell in love with her makeup. Dark sultry eyes and bronze skin – I just had to have it so I promptly drove to my local CVS to buy what she was wearing from the new L'Oreal HIP line. HIP stands for high intensity pigments and let me tell you, they weren't kidding! They didn't have the eye shadow duo that Eva wore, but I found one very close in Mischief, a black and gold-ish color, and I love it. I must say this is the best eye shadow I've tried in quite a long time. The black works fabulous as a liner when used dry. To apply, I used a flat liner brush to pat along my lash line and I liked it better than using it wet. The color didn't budge all day and is so easy to apply and blend, which is saying a lot for a black color. I also used it to create a dramatic smoky eye by applying the black on the lid and then the gold blended into the crease. WOW is all I can say! I also bought the Illuminating Highlighter in Shimmer, which is a duo of light creamy shimmers in a pink-champagne and pink-bronze. This is also one of the best cream-formula shimmers I've ever used and I love it because it is so light and almost translucent with a hint of color and shimmer. The last item I bought was the Intensely Moisturizing Lipcolor in Personali-Tea, which reminds me of my favorite lip color, Nude Lips from Laura Mercier. It is the perfect pinky-nude color that goes with most everything, especially the sunny bronze look for summer. It's pretty moisturizing and stays on for hours. I liked these products so much that I went back and bought another eye shadow duo in Foxy (a chocolate brown and nude pink), and the Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss in Darling. Two more winners! The lip gloss is kind of thick, but not goopey (is that a word?) and it's extremely moisturizing and also lasts for hours. You can find L'Oreal's products at most major drugstore retailers.

Well, gals, that's it... for now at least. I am certain I will find something else for summer that I need or want. Hopefully these products work for you as they did for me and may you have a summer filled with fun in the sun (be protected) and be looking like the stylish diva you are!

- Kristen
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Posted by heather at 8:05 PM

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