Category — Product Reviews

Every gal likes to smell good, right? So I’m here with a suggestion for your next “special night out” perfume; or parfume as the fancy-schmancy types say it. John Varvatos’ fragrance. It’s packaged in a very sleek light pink orb that looks just perfect sitting in my retro sixties bathroom (yep, it’s pink too…). I will admit, I wasn’t an immediate fan of this fragrance, but once I wore it and it warmed onto my skin I started to enjoy it. It’s certainly not for everyday (due to price and it smells a bit too fancy for prancing around dusting the house); but I like it for date nights with Bionic Hubby.

Is it for you? Hmmm… hard to tell since our preferences are all so unique. So I’m going to run through the scent layers to better help you decide if this is something you’d be interested in.

Introductory Scents: Coriander flower, Georgian apricot, Damascus plum, Golden mandarin from Sicily, Aromatic Grappa “Di Nebbiolo” accord.

Background Scents: Tolu balsam, Adriatic oakmoss, Styrax from Laos, Patchouli extra pure, Wild honey from Spain, Tonka beans from Venezuela, Hibiscus seeds from Ecuador.

John Varvatos Eau de Parfum is available via their website in either 1.6 oz ($70) or 3.3 oz ($92) bottles.

Released as part of NARS’ Summer 2008 collection, this lip pencil is a pretty pastel pink “Roman Holiday” (sells for $24). I love the chunky pencil and it goes on so smoothly if you weren’t looking you would certainly think this was a lipstick and not a pencil. There’s no pulling or tugging. The color didn’t bleed or feather and it’s so comfy to wear, and it lasted for hours. The formula contains added Vitamin E so you’re actually moisturizing your lips while coloring them (bonus!).

While the pink is not my favorite color, I use it quite frequently for layering over top other lipsticks (helps lock the color on my lips) and underneath lip glosses to add depth. The stick itself is going to last me many seasons- I haven’t even put a dent in this pencil yet!!

Another thing to note- this pencil travels well in your purse since it won’t leak (always a plus in my book). Overall, it’s a very handy product to stash in your bag (beach bag, travel bag, whatever) and the color is great for those with light skin. If you have darker skin or want more color, check out one of the other 16 colors (may I recommend the gorgeous Dolce Vite? It’s beeeeautiful!)

Pick up your NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil at NARScosmetics.com.

Since I’m not a big mousse user (Love to eat chocolate mousse, but I just don’t use it in my hair…I digress…) I handed the White Sand’s Curl Up in Silk Texture Defining Volumizing Mousse (that’s a mouthful) to the Bionic Hubby (BH) to test.

Overall he said it was a good product (he’s a daily mousse user). He wasn’t too keen for the fruity smell, but most guys aren’t. But when pressed he admitted that the White Sands’ scent was a whole ton better than Garnier Fructis’ mousse (which he pitched in the garbage can 2 days after I bought it for him!).

BH also thought it worked more like a foaming gel rather than a full-on extra frothy mousse. On the HUGE plus side, it left absolutely NO product buildup or residue and washed easily from his hair after the day was done.

White Sands hair products can be purchased at salons and spas. You can check their website to find a location close to home. Stay tuned for more reviews (by me) on different White Sands professional hair care products.

We’re heading into fall and if you’d like to preserve some of your summer glow (faux glow, I’m hoping!) check out Lancome’s Flash Bronzer “Glow n’ Wear”. I grabbed some earlier in the summer and am proud to report it didn’t turn my skin orange and with the proper preparation there was no streaking! Best of all, it dries so quickly! No more waiting around the house half-nekkid while your sunless tanner dries.

The Flash Bronzer gives you the instant gratification of a bronzer while building up a sunless tan gradually. It’s packaged in a convenient pump dispenser which kept it from leaking all over my bathroom floor or cabinets. The formula itself is a gel. It does contain alcohol (which helps with the speedy drying time) so you may want to moisturize a few hours afterwards, but I didn’t feel it was an urgent necessity (meaning my legs weren’t itching and screaming for lotion).

Just think how great your new fall clothes will look on a subtly-tan you! Lancome’s Glow n’ Wear sells for $31 for a 5 oz bottle. It’s available in 2 shades: Natural Tan (which Bionic uses, that’s me!) and Shimmer Tan (which adds a teensy bit of glimmer to your skin).

I recently had the chance to try out Anastasia’s brow care and grooming items. Seriously ladies, I had no idea there were so many accessories I could have been collecting for my brows. My brow care consists of once a week tweezing and daily brush with clear gel mascara to keep them looking pretty. I guess I’ve been blessed by good brows.

To get started: the 5 piece brow kit ($65) contains brow gel, powder, tweezers, stencils and a duo brush (spooley on one end, angled brush on the other). The Anastasia brow gel is fabulous. It’s not sticky, keeps your brows groomed all day and doesn’t run into my eyes if I sweat. My next favorite product is the tweezers. They are absolutely amazing! I was using my mom’s old LaCrosse tweezers from the sixties (which I still love by the way) but these new ones made tweezing so quick and pain-free. They’re angled to help you get the exact hair to pluck. The brow shading powder (like eyeshadow for your brows) has 2 colors in the compact. One light and one dark, so you can blend your perfect brow color. Use the angled brush to fill in your brows. I only used this a bit, since my brows are pretty thick (although I noticed one spot that isn’t growing so well these past few years). The powder looked very natural, and didn’t scream “I FILLED IN MY BROWS!” which is why I’ve always shied away from brow powders. Finally the stencils. I was not a big fan since they were hard to hold for me and I couldn’t see (since I wear glasses) what I was doing. But… if you need to find your ideal brow shape, the stencils would make it much easier and totally remove the guess work. However, my brows are pretty well shaped (at least I think so /wink/).

Other winners from Anastasia:

My absolute favorite product of theirs is the Eye Lights Shimmer pencil ($21). It’s superb for highlighting your brow bone, but also for so much more! I used it as a face highlighter (on my upper cheekbones, bridge of nose), an eye widener (in the inner rim of lower eye lid) and as an eyeliner for a natural look. I have the color Lace which is a sandy gold with shimmer (there are 6 shades to choose from). It’s the softest eye pencil I’ve used. And it’s nice and thick so it makes lining and highlighting a breeze!

Another nice pencil is the Eye Lights Matte ($21). It’s basically the same wonderful pencil as the Shimmer above but in a matte formula. I have this pencil in Camille which is a soft baby pink (4 colors to choose from in this pencil). It’s perfect-o for a brow bone accent and dabbing in the corners of eyes (by your nose) for a pick-me-up. I also used it to line outside my lip line and it really made my lipstick pop. Gorgeous, super soft pencil. (Can you tell I adore how soft and gentle these pencils are?!?)

I’ve got the Anastasia Nu Brow gel ($35) which is supposed to help enhance your brows long term. It’s still early in my testing, so I can’t report any results yet.

How far do you go in brow grooming and maintenance?

I fell in love with Thevi Cosmetics when I tested their Liquid Mineral Foundation and my heal-over-heels attitude continues with their High Impact Lipstick.

The lipsticks are available in 8 colors- covering the range from light pinks to deep reds. In the picture, I’m wearing Brandy Wine which is a slightly shimmery deep berry. This lipstick suits me. It applies like a lipstick but contains some gloss and looks like a glaze over your lips. I loved how it created “depth” on my lips. Gorgeous! The color is pigmented very nicely and wells well. And unlike many brands, Thevi’s lipstick did not dry out my lips with long term wear.

I cannot stop raving about this lipstick to my friends!

Thevi sells their lipsticks online for $22 a tube. And by the way, the packaging is super pretty too!

I do! I do!

And for extremely smooth skin all over my body, I’ve found my must-have item. Lancome’s Resurface Microdermabrasion for Body.

The product is a cream filled to the max with high-grade Aluminum Oxide crystals which polish your body’s skin. I tested the product after regular soap, non-moisturizing body wash, and a moisturizing body wash- all with excellent results. The cream in Resurface seems to keep the exfoliating action from over-drying your body.

I exfoliated my legs, arms, and chest. The aluminum crystals are small enough to not scratch or be too harsh. It was similar to using a light loofah on your skin. And it was an absolutely wonderful prep step for sunless tanner. I had zero streaking after using Resurface!

We all think, research and test products for the best face skincare results, but often neglect to use the same care on our bodies. Lancome’s Resurface has me smooth and polished for the summer ahead. Without fail, my hubby comments on how soft my skin is after I use Resurface (yippee!). Highly recommended by Bionic!

Lancome’s Resurface Microdermabrasion is available at Lancome’s website or at your local Lancome retailer. A 6.7 fluid ounce tube runs $46.