Friday, February 25, 2011

NOTD - NARS Pokerface

I'm a sucker for purple nail polishes. Especially those that have names based in current pop-culture references, like Pokerface. Although the term "pokerface" doesn't belong to Lady Gaga, she's certainly laid some claim to it. Anyway, NARS released this pretty lavendar with their holiday 2010 collection. For whatever reason, my camera decided to make this color pull periwinkle, but it's a neutral, light purple with a in-the-bottle-only shimmer, at least, on me.

Pokerface is one of 3 NARS polishes I've tried, and seems to be the best as far as application goes (Orgasm was super sheer, and MASH... I'm on the fence). Not super thick, not super thin, this polish was squarely in the middle. Two coats was needed, because the first coat was a bit streaky. This is after 2 days of wear, with 1 coat of Diamont on top.

Rock & Republic Blush in "Immoral" - Review


I love Rock and Republic cosmetics. I really do. Their powder products are an extremely awesome value, even at full price. They're smooth, pigmented, and lovely to work with, not to mention the color selection is very, very good.



I have several of their blushes, but I wanted to focus on my newest acquisition, Immoral. In the pan, this is a screaming orange/coral color (or, it would if my camera could handle it. It looks very, very subdued here - but if you were to see it, you'd be "OMGWTF is that?"). With anything but the lightest of hands, it appears on the cheeks the same way. With a light hand, however, it's beautiful glow of coral with a bit of orange (not the most flattering undertone on my NC15 face, but hey, I wear what I want, dammit!). I usually use a MAC 188, 184, or a NARS Yachiyo (after carefully tapping off excess powder) to apply blushes, and they all work well for Immoral. This blush wears fairly well on me; over liquid foundation and under loose powder,it's still visible on my cheeks after about 11 hours.



I know someone out there is dieing to say "LADY! THIS BLUSH IS $40! OMG!" but, calm down and listen: you get 9 grams of product. Chanel, for a little more money, gives you 6 grams, for a slightly less pigmented product. Additionally, R&R seems to be on Haute Look and Gilt Groupe every couple of weeks, so you can usually pick up their products on the cheap, but be warned: their blushes are very popular, because they are excellent, and in my opinion, worth the full admission price.

Skin79 VIP Gold Super+ Beblish Balm - Review

If you haven't heard of BB creams, or blemish balm creams, you're probably not alone. These creams were developed in Germany for patients that had just gotten laser surgery done and needed soothing, and revitalizing creams to help heal their skin. For whatever reason, Korean women went crazy, and Korean skin care companies (and other Asian brands) immediately followed suit, providing umpteen million options. This is one.


Skin79 is a well known brand in Asia, and claim to produce the best selling BB Cream in the world. When looking to try a BB Cream, their VIP Gold Super+ received very good reviews, so I purchased a tube on eBay for about $25 shipped.


I was extremely impressed by the packaging. This tube looks awesome! A soft metallic gold background, holographic logos - very cool. The box isn't too shabby, either. I was impressed that most of the verbiage on the box and tube is in English, however, there are some grammatical errors that make it fairly obvious that a English was not the first language of the individual or team that put it together. No big deal, though.

The actual cream is dispensed through an airless pump. You can see in the picture above a white nozzle sitting in a small channel. As you press down on a portion of the top, the product comes out the white nozzle. Inside of the outer packaging, the bottom of the tube is pulled towards the top, preventing air from entering the tube. This keeps the product relatively hygenic, and fresh.

This product is only sold in one shade - greige. That's the only way to describe it - greyish, beige-ish blah. Immediately after I apply this product, you can definately see the color. After about 10 minutes, however, it blends in. I have a fairly oily T-zone, and this really wears like a poor tinted moisturizer on me. To be fair, all tinted moisturizers that I've tried haven't worked (they include Smashbox's Sheer Focus and Stila's Illuminating TM [ugh]). I'm greasy-looking after about an hour, even after setting with MAC Blot.

I haven't mentioned the scent - but, it's not exactly pleasant. When I was a kid, my sister took horse riding lessons at a stable near a mushroom-growing facility. The smell of this product totally reminds me of that smell, only not as strong. I can't smell it once it's been applied, and no one has mentioned to me that they can smell it on me.

All things considered, I wouldn't repurchase this. It's just not suited to my skin type, and I really feel that these products, overall, are gimmicky. You may see improvements in your skin's texture, tone, etc, but I can't seem to wear this without looking... very, very, VERY shiney. Not the look I'm going for.