Smashbox Baked Fusion Soft Lights – Startburst Bronze
Musings:
We’re completely addicted to a good bronzer and this one is just amazing, and, best of all its completely fool proof! Each of the baked in colours serves a contouring, highlighting and light reflecting purpose, by swirling your brush around in it and then applying it to your face in light sweeping motions you’ll get all of those contouring and light reflecting elements that are much harder to achieve by individually applying them. This looks simply stunning on the cheekbones, temples, down the nose, on your chest, and collarbone, applied with a big soft powder brush, or a contour brush, for a more defined look. Picks up the light beautifully, which means you get a stunning bronzed goddess colour without the orange oompa loompa effect!
The shimmer is more like a luminous sheen rather than a glittering Christmas bauble so it’s a great choice for colour with a beautiful, luminous, slight shimmer.
Love the two in one factor too - you can use the stunning colours individually as eye shadows or as a highlight on the face.
Awards:
• Winner of Self Magazine’s Healthy Beauty Award for Best Bronzer
Investment:
$46 (www.themakeupmuseshop.com.au)
Muse Maths:
Value: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder
Musings:
We’ve been hearing a lot of hype about this one so we had very high expectations of it, and boy did it deliver! It’s been so long since a new product has swept us of our feet. First of all, the packaging and the way it dispenses the powder by shaving off enough minerals for you to use for an application, is sheer genius! This means you get very little wastage, and can dip your big fluffy soft powder brush into it without getting too much product onto it – which gives you more control over how much you use.
Start with a well-hydrated face that has had time to set (We recommend Smashbox Photo Finish Primer) Just shave off a little of the mineral powder, swirl your powder brush into the product, flick off any excess, and apply to your face in circular motions. Do this all over ensuring you get into all of the contours of the face. You can continue these steps to build up the colour if you prefer the look of more coverage, but one coat looks great!
We wore this powder to work and then to the gym, and still, yes STILL, had a nice even skin tone. It doesn’t feel like you’re wearing makeup at all, its sheer, yet really evens out the skin and gives you a wonderful luminous finish. It doesn’t get dry or flaky throughout the day either which some powders tend to do.
You can wear the powder on its own, over a primer/moisturiser, or as a makeup powder over your regular foundation (we think it looks fab over primer!). Plus you can apply it to your décolletage or shoulders with a body brush to give your skin a nice even tone.
Watch the video on the Smashbox site
A powder that reduces fine lines & wrinkles in 10 minutes? It's not magic, it's new HALO HYDRATING PERFECTING POWDER. HALO is the first anti-aging powder with the science of skin care built in. It's advanced formulation of pure gold, 48 minerals, 11 amino acids and a powerful peptide deliver powerful anti-aging benefits while the patented hydration system continuously revitalizes skin for a brighter, more radiant complexion all day. HALO’s innovative built in shaver gives you the perfect amount of luminous loose powder every time with no mess. Finally, a powder that multi-tasks as much as you do.
Clinical studies show:
-After 10 minutes there is a 33% decrease in the appearance of wrinkles around the eyes.
-After 6 weeks of use, there is a 67% decrease in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles overall.
Includes a custom KABUKI BRUSH for flawless application plus a sample of our award-winning PHOTO FINISH FOUNDATION PRIMER.
Oil-free, Talc-free, and Paraben-free. Winner of the HBA Award for Best Prestige Packaging.
.75 oz size - compare to the leading mineral makeup brands and save.
(Above taken from www.smashbox.com)
Investment:
$79.50 (www.themakeupmuseshop.com.au)
Muse Maths:
Value: 5/5
Quality: 5/5
Usability: 5/5
Overall: 5/5 (Cannot be faulted!)
Nars Blush in Orgasm
Musings:
Beautiful colour, just like orgasm but with more gold speckles in it. I was really excited about this, as an absolute addict of Nars Blush Orgasm but it was a little disappointing. It was as good as Orgasm but no 'super'. The gold flecks look amazing in the container but don’t really come up on the skin all that well.
Investment:
(Mecca Cosmetica)
Muse Maths:
Value: 3/5
Quality: 4/5
Usability: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Face Atelier Ultra Foundation
Musings:
First of all, this foundation is amazing! The secret ingredient is silicon according Face Atelier – its what makes it ‘float on the skin’, last all day and doesn’t crease or flake.
Although Face Atelier says you don’t NEED primer when you use this foundation, TMM says, always use a primer! This foundation is simply stunning on brides; it gives the skin a flawless and beautiful glow and does not budge the entire day – just what a bride needs! It doesn’t rub off on clothing and it doesn’t disappear into the skin throughout the day. And, best of all, your skin comes up beautiful and radiant on camera.
You don’t need to use a lot of product; just apply to the face with a foundation brush using light strokes. TMM recommends buffing it out with a kabuki or skunk brush after that. There’s no need to use a setting powder either, as it seems to just set naturally, so you can really see a beautiful dewy skin.
This foundation is just gorgeous on older women too, because it’s a liquid, it just glides straight on. You can choose to use less product and lightly apply to the face, or you can continue to add more if you prefer more coverage but it does have quite good coverage so its not often you’ll need to add more.
If you have really dry skin, try not to use it as your every day foundation, we’ve found it can dry you skin, just a little, but its still an absolute must when you need staying power, like a big night out, a wedding or an event! If your skin is more on the oily side, then jackpot! You will absolutely LOVE this foundation on your skin.
The colour options are really diverse; we haven’t had a face we couldn’t match yet! And to make it even easier, there’s a ‘zero plus’ and a ‘zero minus’ colour option, which you add to the foundation colour to make it darker (with the zero plus’) or lighter (with the zero minus’). So you don’t need to get different shades of foundation depending on the time of year, and a fantastic choice for makeup artists to grow the amount of foundation colour options in an instant!
The heart and soul of FACE atelier – an innovative approach to foundation that allows you to be in control. Ultra Foundation is a silicone-based emulsion that floats on top of the skin, doesn’t crease or flake, and lasts all day long. Hydrating yet oil-free, it fills in tiny lines and pores to ensure a smooth finish.
PRO tips
· apply with #4 foundation brush to ensure smooth and hygienic application
· mix with your face cream to create your very own custom tinted moisturizer
· mix Ultra Foundation with your chosen sun screen for the perfect tinted SPF foundation
· use Ultra Foundation #Zero Minus before applying foundation to highlight and contour
Above taken from www.faceatelier.com
Investment:
There are 2 options for the Ultra Foundation:
Pro bottle: $28 for 20ml (lasts quite well though), which is plastic – great for makeup artists throwing products in their case – glass smashes and its not pretty!
Standard bottle: $48 for 30ml in a glass bottle
Available from Makeup Artists & Co
Muse Maths:
Value: 4/5
Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Overall: 4/5