Paul & Joe Holiday 2012: Make Up Collection Frozen Lilac 001

I'm not going to lie. When I first heard about the theme of the Paul & Joe Holiday Make Up Collection Set, my reaction was "you've got to be joking." I don't know why I found cats and turtle doves perfectly acceptable, but unicorns?

It's a good thing as a dedicated beauty blogger I don't usually knock things until I try them. I think people - including me - underestimate how good Paul & Joe products can be because they look cute.

The Frozen Lilac 001 set includes a translucent powder and a creamy cheek powder. I didn't swatch the translucent powder because it wouldn't be visible on the skin. The rose-hued creamy cheek powder may be confusingly named because it definitely belongs under the cream category. When I first tried it, I actually said "this feels dimethicone-y" aloud – it feels smooth and dry, but goes on and blends into the skin with little effort. The blush stayed on strong for at least six hours and slowly fades to a very bare flush. In case this isn't clear: I love it.

I wore it with Tarte LipSurgence in Escape (swatched here) and SmolderEYES in Gold (application method here) under my glasses!

Paul & Joe Holiday Make Up Collection Frozen Lilac 001 retails for $65 and is available at Beautyhabit.com and Bergdorf Goodman. If you would like to call to order, you can try Caroline or Alex at 212.872.8648. Let them know I sent you!

Full disclosure: This entry contains product(s) sent by the PR or manufacturer for editorial consideration.

Those Tarte Liners Work As Shadows Too

As if the Tarte 6-piece SmolderEYES holiday set wasn't already a steal, I find another way to use it. While the pencils are originally eye liners, their crayon-like tips and buttery textures make them perfect for shadow work as well. Observe:

1. Apply on lid

2. Blend with crease brush

3+4. Adjust shape accordingly by applying more toward the crease and blending out

That itself could be a complete eye look, but I took it further by applying and blending out champagne at the inner corners of my eyes, lining the top lash line with onyx and the bottom lash line with gunmetal.

And since these liners are waterproof, they're budge and crease proof as well. That deserves a happyface for sure! (People with oily lids should still use primers, but I'm sure you already do, right?)

All the colors mentioned in this post are a part of the Tarte Holiday 2012 Eye Catchers 6-Piece SmolderEYES™ And Skinny SmolderEYES™ Collector's Set, which retails for $39 and is available at Sephora.

………………
Products Used:
Face -
Chantecaille 'Future Skin' Foundation in Camomile
RMS Beauty "Un" Cover Up #22
Paul & Joe Face Powder 001 (from the Holiday Make Up Collection 2012 001 Set)
Korres Cheek Butter in Eros Coral

Eyes -
Tarte SmolderEYES in Gold, Champagne, Gunmetal, and Onyx (from the 6-piece set)
Pop Beauty Peak Performance Mascara in Brilliant Black
Shu Uemura Retractable Eyebrow Pencil in Seal Brown
Le Métier de Beauté Eye Crease Brush

Lips-
Korres Lip Butter Glaze in Raspberry

PS: Thank you everyone for the well-wishes in regards to Hurricane Sandy. I am extremely fortunate to be living in a neighborhood that was unscathed by the storm, but there are plenty of New Yorkers who need help. For those who would like to give aid, you can donate $10 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief by texting REDCROSS to 90999 or visiting redcross.org directly.

The products in this post was sent by the company for editorial consideration

Swatched: Tarte Holiday 2012 Collection Sets

Unless you've been living under a beauty rock, you must have heard of these fantastic Tarte Holiday Sets. From what I've seen and heard, they've been flying off Sephora shelves so fast it's like UD Naked all over again. Looking at them and how little they cost, I totally understand the frenzy. With most of these sets, you're essentially paying a little over the price of one item for multiple products. The best part? Aside from the blush set, they aren't even mini-sized. 

A portion of my face has been rather odd lately so I haven't been able to take photos of myself wearing makeup. For now, here are swatches of the three sets I have, in case you were hesitating on your purchase (but seriously, why are you?).

Fantastic Foursome 4-Piece Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush Enthusiast Set ($35 for $60 value)

L-R; Angelic, Fantastic, Magic, Stellar

L-R: Stellar, Magic, Fantastic, Angelic

The colors are all exclusive to this set! Angelic is an ivory highlight, Fantastic is a matte cool pink, Magic is a pink-leaning coral, and Stellar is a shimmery light bronzer. Out of the four, Fantastic was slightly chalky (since it's matte) while Stellar required some packing to show up, but I think that's a good thing in a bronzer shade. 

5-Piece LipSurgence™ Collector's Set ($34 for $120 value)

L-R: Escape, Enchanted, Exposed, Sweet, Elite

Tarte included three different formulas in this 5-piece set. Escape and Sweet are Lip Lusters (sheerer, more shimmer), Enchanted and Elite are Lip Tints (more pigmented), while Exposed is a Matte Lip Tint. It's fantastic if you've been hankering to try out a variety of Tarte lip offerings without breaking the bank. My only caveat is it's mostly comprised of warm pinks. I would have liked to see a wider color selection, maybe switch two out for a red and a nude.

Eye Catchers 6-Piece SmolderEYES™ And Skinny SmolderEYES™ Collector's Set ($39 for $144 value)

L-R: Ash Violet, Rainforest Black, Champagne, Gunmetal, Gold, Onyx

Again, the colors are exclusive to this set and not available in their regular line. I can't even begin to explain how awesome swatching these liners felt. Gliding butter! Yet they won't budge! Look at those colors! And that black! I mean, that's what I call a black! 

I guess it felt like a lot of exclamation points. I think the colors are pretty self-explanatory from the swatches and accompanying names, except Gunmetal, which is a taupey brown and not a steely gray as the name would suggest.

From swatching and some light testing, all the items in these sets hold up to the usual Tarte standard. I've been a longtime fan of their blushes, Exposed being my go-to browned rose, and am happy to rediscover their lip pencils and eye liners. I was once a staunch devotee of SmolderEYES in brown and only put it away because I went back to wearing black liners. 

These Tarte sets are available at Sephora and Tarte.com, and I say they're all worth it. Even if you only like one color out of the entire set, you can split them up and give them as Thanksgiving/Hannukah/Christmas/I-Don't-Need-A-Special-Reason gifts. After all, what girl doesn't like receiving makeup?

The products in this post were provided by the company for editorial consideration

Blushing Apples

As far as yesterday's post was about lips, I wanted to talk about cheeks as well (my friend Tracy nicknamed me Cheekz for good reason). Recently I haven't been doing the "pull into hairline" sort of cheek as much as the "dab at the apples" kind, largely because of my obsession with Robin's (Cobie Smulders) makeup in How I Met Your Mother, but we'll stay on topic for now.

Cheeks: Tarte Exposed

How I do it is I use my LMdB Cheek Brush and pick up a good amount of pigment, then press it onto the apples of my cheeks (remember the first point of contact between brush and skin deposits the greatest amount of pigment). From there, I sort of fluff and blend it out.

Eyes: Chantecaille Rose Gold; Cheeks: Chanel Tempting Beige

Of course, if you want to add a little extra something to the look (and it's daytime and totally not appropriate to be sparkling–you listening, Cullens?), try a non-glittery highlighter. In the pictures above I used Dior Airflash Primer, which works great as an opal highlighter as well. I really need to talk about that one day soon.

Swatches of the products in this post:

L-R: Chanel Tempting Beige, Tarte Exposed, Chantecaille Rose Gold

Chanel Tempting Beige is a lightly browned peach and my go-to peach cheek color. I think I've never been tempted (ha!) by any other peach blush because this one is just perfect for me. Tarte Exposed is a lightly browned muted rose.

Now, on to my current TV obsession. Have you watched How I Met Your Mother? I can't believe I waited this long to jump on that bandwagon (in a way, that's great since I could just smash straight through seven seasons). Every time Robin comes on screen I stare at her makeup because a) she's gorgeous, and b) she's made up very well. Her makeup artist applies her blush the above-mentioned way, and she always looks just the right amount of flushed.

Though not indicative in this picture

Did you know Cobie Smulders was also in the Avengers? I never knew till someone pointed out to me that she was Samuel L. Jackson's hot assistant.

Anyone else has the same ardent fondness for HIMYM? Or browned cheek products? Let's discuss!