bunnyshop shopping fashion blog

Stila All Over Shimmer Luminizer: Beauty Review

Because we have been thinking: "We really need something where we can give out stars!"

Beauty product: Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer

What Sephora says its does: "Light up your look from lids to lips, cheeks to collarbones, with this lightweight way to add flirty sheen and luminosity to the skin. This Liquid Luminizer allows for added application control and will last longer than traditional powder or cream shimmers. The glass bottle has a built in brush for mess-proof application."

What we think: Let us begin by saying the part about "mess-proof" is just, we swear, completely false. We may act like an eight-year-old in public, but we are not so wedded to that role that we want to walk out of Sephora covered in luminizer, whatever that is, but that is exactly what we did. This shit got everywhere. And as far as the luminizing is concerned: A., we fail to recognize "luminizer" as  word. B., it just looked like glitter-face. Maybe we need to use a lot less, and be much more tactical about where we applied it, but. Still. Glitter-face. We're not sold, figuratively or literally. And we love Stila, so this was a bit of a disappointment.

Stars(!): * *. Eh. We want to be luminized, but this wasn't the product to do it for us. Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer, $22

Eye Shadow: Reader Mail

In today's Reader Mail:

Eye shadow colors:

To complement skin tones & hair color. . .  or to bring out eye color? I'd love it if anyone who responds is specific about  skin/hair/eye + eye shadow colors.

Thanks!
A.

Well! We'll admit we'll be even less helpful on this than usual, since we rarely, rarely, rarely wear eye shadow. Are our eyelids too greasy? We have no idea, but primer, no primer, whatever, that shit just wipes off about 20 minutes after we put it on. We will say that we're eyeliner devotees, with green eyes and dark hair, and we are newly fans of purple eyeliner. (Though we will remind here that when our best friend saw us wearing it in Sephora, she made us take it off. We feel she may have been wrong about this.) Anyway, we do know that the classic color for the green-eyed among us. But we open it to the floor: anyone with particularly successful color combinations?

Above: Sephora's eye shadow collection for green eyes, $26

Tarte Cheek Stain—Questions Answered!

A few weeks ago, after we endorsed our very beloved Tarte Cheek Stain, we discovered the following comment:

How DO you use the cheek stain? I'm embarrassed to say I've always been afraid to ask the stupid question. Does it go on... first? Can you put it on over moisturizer or does it mess things up? Arrrgh.

Once we realized that we could not, with confidence, answer this question ourselves, we turned to actual experts—at Tarte! And here is their exceptionally qualified answer:

Using tarte’s cheek stain is simple. First, apply your moisturizer, concealer, foundation (liquid or powder or both!), and/or bronzer on first. Then, grab your tarte cheek stain. Make sure you remove and toss the plastic protective cap. Be sure to wipe off any condensation. Using your fingers, a sponge or directly from the container (choice is up to you—it’s what you’re comfortable with) dab it on the apples of your cheeks. I always suggest people smile to find these. After you dab it on, then blend, blend, blend! You have a few minutes to blend it before it dries. And that’s how you get that dewy, flushed look!

Hurrah! We will add that when we use it (almost daily) we put it on straight from the tube—we really find it easier to use than just about anything.

We are so feeling the power of getting questions answered today. If anyone else has a question about a particular product, let us know!

Above: Tarte cheek stain, $28

Today's Contest Semi-Finalist Entry

In today's entry to the contest! Winner takes home some lovely Embittermints, an excellent Madewell t-shirt, and some of our favorite ManGlaze nail polish. Everybody votes on Friday.

Favorite TV show: Chuck on NBC, the show is hilarious.

Favorite book: Golden Compass, one of the only books I’ve read three times.

And the Bunnyshop Hearts suggestion: 17th Century Suds Lip Balm and Soap.  It's available online here. The chapstick is the best I’ve ever used. They only use natural ingredients and they smell good, too. I discovered them at the Ithaca Farmers Market when my sister went to school near there. The people who run the business are awesome. My sister graduated three years ago, but they still remember her when she calls in an order. They also have other body care stuff and a household soap, but I haven’t tried it.

 Just one more day for this contest, but let us say, we're getting some pretty fun stuff in the mail for another one next week. Yay free things!

17th Century lip balms are $3 for three, and available here.

Our (Probably Soon To Be Forgotten) Beauty Resolutions

You know, we don't mind saying that we got up yesterday morning, looked in the mirror and were all, "Holy fuck, that is just not acceptable." (Note that this did not stop us from going to a meeting looking exactly like that. You ask us, anyone who schedules a business meeting for a Sunday is going to have to take us at our second best.)

Anyway: We are big believers in the post-holiday season: the sales, the (slightly) longer days, the lead-up to spring (and most glorious of all, summer), and, of course, correcting all that holiday season excess. What can we say: We're Puritans. But it is, obviously, not too late for resolutions. It is, in fact, precisely the right time for them, now that the holidays are officially done with and getting down to work and all that. Like we said, we're Puritans, and that work ethic tells us that if we keep working at this, everything gets better. It's the American dream, we're thinking. Getting on with it, our beauty-specific resolutions for 2008. Of course, we'd love to hear yours. 

1. To wear sunscreen every day. Philosophy Shelter, $25

We can safely say that there is absolutely no way this will ever, ever happen. Possibility of achieving resolution: 0 of 10.

2. To at least wear primer, even if we are too busy for anything else. By the way: We need to say holy shit: This is super on sale, and it's our absolute favorite. Buy it! Buy it! You know, if you like. Becca Mattifying Primer, $8.75(!)

This might actually happen. We are way big into the primer thing, because when we would just wear foundation, we would be all pale and need to put on some sort of blush, lip gloss, whatever. Primer just makes everything nice and even without making your skin all sad. Possibility of achieving resolution: 5 of 10.

3. We will at least put on moisturizer before going out into that cold January air. We're taking a break from being able to afford this, but, you know, maybe our top resolution is to make more money than we need to use for food. Kiehl's Cryste Marine Ultra Riche, $45

Really, it's the laziness that gets in the way here. Possibility of achieving resolution: 3 of 10.

4. We will expand our repertoire of liquid eyeliner tricks. Sephora eye liner, $10

We love nothing like we love our liquid eyeliner. Possibility of achieving resolution: 9 of 10.

5. We will think very seriously about going paraben-free with our beauty selections. Caudalie Anti-Aging Serum, $70

We will definitely think about it. We are not sure we will act on it. Possibility of achieving resolution: 10 of 10.

7. We will use a heavy-duty exfoliator at least weekly. This is a splurge, but if we're going to splurge on any  of it, this is the one. Fresh Appleseed Resurfacing Kit, $145

The results for this are so tops that we think we'll actually do this. We would go back to our old favorite (Ocean Salt by Lush) but we just had too many problem washing it off without getting it all in our mouth. This is our fault, not the product's.

8. We will always, always, always use eye primer before applying eye shadow, and thus avoid inevitable disappointment after the shadow disappears twenty minutes after application. Too Faced eyeshadow base, $15

If it makes our apple green eyeshadow stay in one place, we're all for it. Possibility of achieving resolution: 6 of 10.

RIP Lipgloss

For the first time in something like 10 years, lip gloss sales are down. We are not entirely unhappy about this. We've tried the super glossy look - all we did was get our hair and dirt stuck on our lips. We tried color gloss, scented gloss, flavored gloss. Nope. Didn't like a bit of it. We will celebrate falling lip gloss sales by tossing all our glosses out the window. Goodbye, gooey pots! Goodbye, weirdly shaped tubes! But one thing we're not giving up is LORAC's Gloss Stick.

It is like Chapstick for the cosmetically challenged. It is not sticky, it lasts a while, it smells good without being flavored. It is our go-to for meetings, weddings (including our own, but then again, our hair was in a ponytail), and generally looking nice without too much effort. We love Sheer Plum as our favorite color. Gloss sales be damned, we're not giving it up.

LORAC Gloss Stick, $15

-LIL BUNNY