Mark It Kit Trend Color Compact - Review & Swatches

I love kits and palettes mostly because they are a great value for money ! If I was someone who traveled a lot - I'd probably love it for that too.

Often I get questions from readers looking for a great everyday kit that they could just throw into their bags and head out. Other times I get asked about kits for beginners who want a little bit of everything in a small, compact, non-overwhelming form. And then there are kits that need to be given as gifts. When you are traveling to India to meet with relatives / spend some time in Des you take gifts for relatives - all Asians do this. And I get a lot of questions from folks traveling to India / Pakistan / South Asia in general requesting recommendations on mini makeup kits that they could give as gifts.

In short - there is a huge demand for mini all in one kits.

I have one kit here that satisfies all of the above needs - The mark It Kit Trend Color Compact. At $20 its a cute little thing that packs a lot !

Its a flip compact - as in you have a few things on one side and you flip it to find few more things.

On one side are three eye shadows (black, grey, beige) and an almost matte bronzer.

On the other side we have three lip glosses ( mauve pink, fuchsia, clear shimmer ) and three triple use color creams ( deep pink, bronze taupe, light pink).

Over all its a very well thought out palette. The eye shadows come in a decent size - not those tiny squares that wont even fit your finger. The three shades should look good on most skin tones and are versatile enough for day and night. The bronzer is good for some color / for contouring.

But my most favorite part is the other side with the lip glosses and creams. The creams can be used on eyes / lips / cheeks. I love using the deep pink color on my cheeks and using the light pink one as a highlighter under my brows, on top of my cheek bones / on the bridge of my nose. The bronze taupe I use on its own all over my lids. When I apply a thin layer it doesn't crease much and gives just enough color for day wear. Combined with some black shadow along the lash line and mascara - I'm good to go !

The lip glosses are not deeply pigmented - all three are sheer. The fuchsia pink gives the most color to my lips but the mauve pink is my favorite for day. It has a gorgeous shine that though not long lasting looks incredible the short time that it stays on. For longer wear and more color I've started applying the deep pink creme color on my lips and topping it off with any of the glosses - too cute !

My only complaint is the slightly sweet taste of the glosses. I don't really lick my lips or eat lipstick but the one time I just happened to...the sweet taste reminded me never to. None of the products have any scent, which is great coz my olfactory senses drive me crazy. And the lid has a hollow design so your lip gloss wont get on the lid of the compact. Messy compacts are yuck.

Overall - its a very handy kit ! This is my first time with a mark product and it has managed to get me interested in the brand.

Tarte's Natural Beauty Complexion Collection

Hey Guys !

I saw this Kit at Sephora yesterday ( of course I had to hit Sephora on my bday !). Its a $157 value set available for $54. The kit is put together very well - it has a foundation, concealer, bronzer, primer, flat foundation brush and pressed powder.

HAve any of you tried this ? They are available in four shades - fair , light, medium & dark
Love,
Indian Girl

The Body Shop Holiday Makeup Collection 2009 - Eye & Cheek Palette : Review & Swatches

Hello Ladies !

Hope you had a good night's sleep.

That's exactly what I hope. Because I did not until 2 AM. My neighbors lost their clock and forgot the concept of Inside Voices - hence the above. But we wont talk about that....


Lets talk about happy things like this little makeup palette that comes packaged like a jewelry box. I know this because my mom has a set of pearls that came in a similar casing. Anything that comes in a jewelery like casing makes the best gift ! It has four eyeshadow ( frosty lilac , frosty purple, gray, shimmery black) and a pretty rose blush. The palette was for $26 but is now listed for $13 on The Body Shop site !!! At $13 its a great bargain ! You'll see why ....



The Eye & Cheek Palette is cute and is about the size of your hand. A great one to pick up and drop into your purse for a touch up later. However given the shades, I don't see one dropping it into my purse unless....

Unless you have a dinner date .

A dinner date with a tall man.

A dinner date with a tall handsome man.

A dinner date with a tall handsome man with dimples.

A dinner date with a tall handsome man with dimples and you know you will be late at work and will not have time to get back home and dress up. Then. Then I see you dropping this kit into your purse along with a nude lip gloss.

Tall handsome man with dimples loves smokey eyes and nude lips ! Its a scientifically proven fact.

Good move dropping the kit into your purse ! And, Good luck on the hot date !

Love,
Indian Girl

This article contains a sample product sent for consideration by PR. For more details on the disclosure policy please refer to it at the bottom of the page.

Holiday Beauty Deals & Sets

Starting 11/25/09 spend more than $50 on http://www.loraccosmetics.com/ and you’ll receive free shipping along with two full size MULTIPLE RUSH LIP/CHEEK STICKS in LOVE RUSH (pink shimmer) and CRUSH RUSH (rose) and a mini COUTURE SHINE LIQUID LIPSTICK! This amazing offer will last until Tuesday 12/1 (or while supplies last)

Bobbi Brown Friends & Family Event is finally here ! Enjoy 20% off any order on BobbiBrown.com from November 30th—December 2nd.


Check out the Gift Me Gorgeous gift guide at www.benefitcosmetics.com/holiday… from the Celebutante personal stylist makeup kit ($34) to the Glitz, Glam & Gloss 6-shade gloss set, you’ll be sure to find the perfect little something for every gal on your list.

Also find other exclusive holiday features, including “Ask Annie & Maggie,” a hot new section where Benefit Global Trend Artists Maggie & Annie Ford Danielson answer your burning beauty questions, and Benefit's Holiday Calendar with new exclusive deals, discounts and freebies every single day.

NOV 30 is Cyber Monday at AVEDA !

THE OFFER: Choose any 4 sample size products + receive free shipping with just a $25 purchase at Aveda.com – enter promo code PICK4 at checkout.

Check out the 2009 holiday collection of gift sets on Aveda.com or restock your favorites !
I am very new to this brand. Have never tried anything from them. But I did check out their lipstick at Ulta and loved the formula. These are also available at Target. Anybody tried anything from NP ?

These below are some of their Holiday Kits. I love how grand the lip glosses look !

Deco Deluxe Lip Gloss - $28.00
Strawberry, Peach, Raspberry, Tangerine and Watermelon

Golden Girl Palette - $45.00
16 riveting eye shadows, three winsome cheek colors and two brush applicators, all enclosed in an eye-catching gold fabric wallet.


Gold Fever Brush Sets
Brush Set #3 - $85.00
Eight elegant travel-size brushes including a Powder Brush, Concealer Brush, Liner Brush, Lip Brush, Mascara Brush and three Eye Brushes in a blend of natural and synthetic hair. The brushes are presented in a snazzy gold wallet with built-in mirror.


Brush Set - $35.00
Two mini kabuki brushes in natural hair for foundation and powder application. The brushes are enclosed in an adorable gold pouch.

Love,
Indian Girl

Smashbox Wish For The Perfect Pout : Swatches

Smashbox has plenty of gifts you can - wish for . But not like you are going to get em.

Sorry that's just me being mean.

What I meant is though the wonderful folks at Smashbox say Wish for these....what they actually mean is - these are available for sale, they are a great value just like you wished for....


But is this a value pack ?
Leave that to Detective IG to figure out. She is a self proclaimed Lipgloss Math Guru.

2 full size glosses (.20 fl oz) - $18 x 2 = $36
4 travel size glosses (.14 fl oz) - $12.60 x 4 = $50.40
Total = $86.40

( but they say $96. Am I wrong ? Darn it, I should have checked before self proclaiming anything. But you forgive me, dontcha.)
Just For You Price = $ 29

I guess that's a deal !

The Bobbi Brown full size glosses are $20 for 0.14 fl oz which is Smashbox's travel size - Just another Lip gloss trivia I like to throw around.

Shades : (their description vs. mine)

POUT - baby doll pink or a milky pink with a hint of lavender (the color)
LUSTER - sheer golden pink or a champagne with smallest hint of pink
TEASE - juicy raspberry or a sheer deep pink
CANDY - cotton candy pink - Spot on, Mr. !
AURA - shimmery pink nude - Again, well done !
RADIANT - shimmery pink plum - You're getting the hang of this, arntcha !

L to R : Pout, Luster, Tease, Aura, Candy, Radiant

They are all mostly sheer shades except Radiant & Tease. There are degrees of sheerness and generally every color is extremely wearable making it a good choice for almost anybody. As with all Smashbox glosses I've tried they are not totally non sticky.

Buy the whole kit and gift it or rip it apart and tie a pretty bow around each gloss and use it as a stocking stuffer. Anything works in this house ! What happens in yours ?

Love,
Indian Girl

Picture Tutorial On Olive Green Eye Look With Julie Hewett Eye Shadows

As promised this is the post on the step by step picture tutorial for this Olive Green Eye Look. Gather up some patience - this is a long one !

Eye Shadows

These are the powder shadows I used for the look. All are by Julie Hewett.

L to R : Vita, Silk, Zen, Olive

Brushes

I have listed the brushes I used, as well. Some brushes I used were from Smashbox. A couple were from an unknown brand I picked up at Big Lots long long ago. But I have substituted with a similar brush from Smashbox simply because it makes it easier for a reader to stop at a brand and get a look at all the brushes instead of jumping from brand to brand.

Step By Step Tutorial

1. Start off with clean moisturized eyes. apply concealer all over eyes and under the eyes hiding dark circles.
Product : Cover Fx Conceal Fx - Light
Brush : Smashbox Concealer Brush #12

2. Set the concealer with translucent powder.
Product : Cover Fx Translucent Powder - Light
Brush : Smashbox Crease Brush #10 ( I used the nameless brand one)

3. Pat a thin layer of cream / gel eyeliner or shadow in black all over the lid. Skip the inner corner.
Product : Estee Lauder Gel Eyeliner - Black
Brush : Smashbox Concealer Brush #4 ( I used the nameless brand one)


4. Using dabbing motions apply a thick layer of olive green shadow over the gel eyeliner.
Product : Julie Hewett Eyeliner - Olive
Brush : Smashbox Blending Brush #3 ( I used Prescriptives Eyeshadow Brush)


5. Blend a pistachio green color with the olive green, moving upwards and outwards along the crease.
Product : Julie Hewett Eyeshadow - Zen
Brush : Smashbox Crease Brush #10


6. Apply highlighter under the brow, along the brow bone.
Product : Julie Hewett Eye Shadow : Silk
Brush : Smashbox Blending Brush # 3 ( I used the nameless brand one)


7. Apply a green / black, gel / creme eyeliner along upper liner and lower lash line
Product : Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner - Forest Shimmer Ink
Brush : Smashbox Eyeliner Brush #8

8. Line the waterline with a dark green or black eyeliner pencil.
Product : Rimmel London Spark It Up Gleaming Eye Darkening Liner - Peridot


9. Do your brows, apply mascara.
Product : Julie Hewett Eye Shadow : Vita
Brush : Smashbox Angle Brow Brush #12
Product : Julie Hewett Rose Mascara

That's it ! In less that ten steps we have a pretty pretty olive green eye look !

Finished Look :



Custom Palettes :

Over at Julie Hewet they have a new system where you can make your own custom palettes by choosing shades you love to fit into the palette of your choice. Its just like build your own burger except its not edible.

Very few things that are not edible interest me. So, listen up !

The palettes are the gorgeous black and white magnetic ones. So much cuter than the regular all black palettes that everybody else makes.

There are three kinds of palettes available : single pan, 2 pan and four pan. In my two pan palette I plan on adding Silk - a bone colored shade with a tiny hint of gold shimmer. Its the best highlighter shade ever and Vita - a brown taupe shade that makes my eyebrows look happy ! I can then drop it into my purse and have gorgeous highlighted brows all day long !



Ooooofffffffff...its over ! Its all over ! You can go ahead lose that patience now !
I just did.

Love,
Indian Girl

Julie Hewett Noelle Palette : Review. The Pretty Four & A Discount !

God, I love Julie Hewett palettes. They always put in the prettiest four shades together making it perfect for almost anybody !

The latest from them is the Noella Palette.

Noel Noel is one of my favorite Christmas songs. Nothing to do with the palette. But just in case you were dying to know which Christmas songs I liked.

I bet you were !

I keep telling myself that.

The Noella palette has four beautiful colors in it - three satin finish eyeshadow and one cheekie for cheeks & lips. The shadows are a joy to work with. They are paraben and talc free hence no binders. This is great for blending and layering but also makes them susceptible to breakage. Just something to remember before you throw the palette into your makeup drawer.

mica: a silver tinsel shadow, versatile for both day and night allure.
pola: a delicate snow white shadow to sweep over entire lid and highlight under brow.
java: a seductive, slightly shimmery brown used to create a smokey look that everyone will notice.
rosie: a sheer vibrant raspberry for the cheeks that doubles as a luscious lip color.

For this look I used Java all over my lid and Pola as my highlight under my brows.



Brown has never been my color but occasionally I find a rich beautiful brown like this one that just sweeps me off my feet. Pola is a great highlight shade. But I have another awesome highlight shade from JH that I will share soon. That one is a must have. Not to take the spotlight away from Pola. She is pretty too.

Rosie , rosie , rosie. Like they say it is a gorgeous flush of color. I love it a lot lot more than my POP Apples Of The Cheeks Rouge #1 . Rosie is a lot more sheerer than many other cheekies; making it a perfect pick for naturally flushed cheeks and just a hint of red stain for my lips.

I lined my waterline with Omit Pencil by Julie Hewett. I could have used a brown or black eyeliner but I just felt like going with the nude waterline. My brows are strong ( loving my Smashbox eyebrow brush #12).

Though I do a lot of looks with multiple shades - this is more in my comfort zone. It is dressy but has just two shades. Sometime less is more.

I couldn't sound anymore cleché, could I ? But these quotes are a cleché for a reason. They are true !



DISCOUNT

From now until Nov. 29th, use CODE NOV15 at checkout and get 15% off your purchases at juliehewett.net !

Love,
Indian Girl

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty The Super Balm Kit : Review

Ladies, thank you all for the wonderful emails after yesterday's just for you offer ! I am truly touched.

Did I just say, touched ? I sound like a 97 year old grandma.

What I mean is - Its Kool man ! No biggie ! Yeah ! I'll bring you the deals ! Sure man !

Are kids still saying Kool ? My mom just reminded me I will be 26 soon. No fair.

Since everybody is super excited over Holiday deals, I thought I'd share another one from the same folks today. So you could go into select CVS stores and get whatever rocks your boat. Or your friend's or sister's or mom's boat.

I don't own a boat. Neither does my sister or my mom or my friend(s). But they are all getting a value pack for Christmas ! It will rock their proverbial boat.



This next kit is a lip balm kit. Three lip balms in one rectangular kit. A $26 value. But just for you $12.99.

The three shades in it are
Fresh Pink - a barely there ( not really "there") pink
Nude Shimmer - a barely there ( really, its there. You can see sometimes.) Nude with a hint of shimmer
Berry Shine - The cheerleader of the gang ! Such a pretty berry with a golden glaze.



Look at that ! How can I say no to that !

Can you tell my lips were very cracked ? That's the beauty of a colored lip balm. A berry colored lip balm. It balms and it berries !

Love,
Indian Girl
PS : If you don't find these kits at your CVS , I might wait out a couple more weeks or so. Some stock products immediately, some get them later. They probably dont wanna get into Holiday madness already ! Cant blame them ! Also these are available only at select stores which I guess means select cities as well. If I get a list of those stores , I'll be sure to let y'all know. Hang in there with me, while I gather up more details on Monday. Have a super weekend !

Sally Hansen Natural Beauty 5 Minute Face Kit : Review

Its the Holidays !

Well, technically not yet but we're almost there ! I know we're almost there because it smells like cinnamon and other holiday spices around my apartment building. I get out and I'm like...

Oh No You Didn't. Oh No. They bust out their Holiday home fragrances, man !

I don't have the holiday fragrances yet. So, I am busting out the value kits. Today its Sally Hansen Natural Beauty 's turn with their 5 Minute Face Kit. I have loved this brand since it came into being a couple of years back. Almost everything has worked well for me and the price is almost always right.


This 5 Minute Face Kit has gotten me more excited than the bulls at the Rodeo !

I said bulls not cowboys. Nothing is more exciting than cowboys. *Drools* TX cowboys !

The Kit has 5 items. A minute per item. And they come in three shades - Light, Medium and Dark. Each kit has products that should help enhance features of skin tone in that range.

Luminizing Face Primer
Concealer
Blush
Eyeshadow Trio
Lip gloss

The primer is brilliant stuff ! It is a bit shimmery but all shimmer is forgiven during winter. So I say, Go for it. Thelma. Go for it !

Concealer , I'll write a lot about it soon.

The eyeshadow I have talked about them here. Almost a year back ! But they are still making them good !
The lip gloss in Sparkling Champagne is perfect for light - medium skin tones. A beautiful flesh toned shade with a hint of shimmer. Some of my other favorite shades are here with swatches .The blush ( Cherub) is a peachy pink "I-am-an-angel. Don't believe me ? Look at my cheeks " kinda color. That is the exact description that would be on he box had I made it.

But wait. So you think they put a items in a kit call it 5 minute kit and I'll get excited over it ?

No. Absolutely not. Check out the receipt below to know the most exciting part about the kit and the deal I've set up for y'all !


Its worth $45 but the CVS guy knows you read AIMB and he'll give it to you for $12.99. Just for you ! No Jokes. All true story.

Okay I had nothing to do with the deal. But if you give it a try, it'll still $12.99. AIMB reader or not !

Love,
Indian Girl