Gifted Product Reviews

Products given to us by the brand for testing purposes. If we love the product, we may share our opinions and experience. Read about gifted product reviews here.

Aveda Petal Essence Triple Accent two-ended pencil in almandine/sassafras

March 24, 2008 · Leave a Comment

The other day I talked about how much I love Aveda Petal Essence Triple Accent in Topaz Taupe/Heather (Topaz Taupe is the only goof-proof smokey eye cream shadow I’ve ever tried), and today I have another Triple Accent that knocks it out of the park – the almandine/sassafras combo.

Sassafras, the lip/cheek color, is a unique color – a neutral mulberry if you took out the plum, or a sienna without the brown – especially good if you don’t wear sienna or brown colors because they make yoour teeth look yellow – I think this brightens my smile, in fact. It’s a great daytime color – a bit sheer, but provides coverage, color, and moisture to your lips. I tried it in different daytime lightings, and it ranges from a subtle amount of color to looking like your natural lips, but better.

Almandine, the eye color/highlighter, is also great for daytime. Goes on as easy and goof-proof as Topaz Taupe if not easier, and can also be used as an eyeshadow base. The color is a light almond color with a hint of pink. My eyes looked perky and awake with a quick swipe over the lid. It’s also a great shade to highlight the browbone. It imparts a nice sheen without being shimmery or sparkly – you just look dewy and awake.

If you wake up exhausted and red-eyed, try using almandine on your inner rim and it will immediately brighten and widen your eye. Because of the very creamy consistency, it glides on and doesn’t pull the delicate skin in the least, nor does it get on your lower lashes.

This is a great combo that doesn’t overpower your face for a natural (but better) look. I would especially recommend it for fair olive-toned or yellow undertone skin.

Find it available at Aveda.com for $18.

Being TRUE Sheer Lip Shine in Aglow

March 20, 2008 · Leave a Comment

I recently discovered the Being TRUE skincare and cosmetic line, and I tried out the Sheer Lip Shine in Aglow, a beautiful limited edition neutral color.

INGREDIENTS

Being TRUE Sheer Lip Shine contains great ingredients:

1) Peppermint and caffeine to plump – a highly effective plumper that doesn’t sting at all and doesn’t cause irritation. On the contrary, it calmed my chapped lips that nothing else has been able to soothe for about a week or so. So if you find some of the traditional plumpers too stingy, Being TRUE Sheer Lip Shine is the plumper for you.

2) Green tea and Vitamin E to condition – Green tea is my go-to raw skin soother, so I love when products (especially color cosmetics) contain green tea in their formulation. And using green tea in combination with Vitamin E will soothe the most chapped lips.

THE EXPERIENCE

Between the plumping and the conditioning features, the little lines that everyone over the age of five has on their lips disappear, and the effect lasts long after the gloss has worn off – which is awhile – this gloss has excellent staying power.

I really like that it’s not sticky, so there is no risk of your hair getting stuck in it. Considering how often I end up with smudged lips and sticky hair when a stiff wind blows my hair around, this is a definite plus for me.

It’s pretty rare to find a neutral lip color that brightens your face and highlights your lips. This is due to pink and gold shimmer (extremely subtle – all that you see is the reflection, not the shimmer particles) that is infused with the toffee base color. Hitting the three bases of pink, gold, and toffee means that Aglow is a universally flattering shade.

Great for everyday wear, and perfect for a glamorous lip look paired with a smokey eye. And the peppermint aroma is so nice, I find myself putting it on constantly in the last couple of days just for a little energy pick me up.

Since Aglow is a limited edition color, it won’t be around forever – check it out now.

WHERE TO FIND IT

The Being TRUE line is sold exclusively through high-end salons and spas – find one near you at the Being TRUE website.

I’m really glad I found the Being TRUE line and can’t wait to try more of their makeup and especially their skincare line!

Here’s some pics I took to show you what it looks like on when you first put it on and after a few minutes of plumping:

Aveda Petal Essence Triple Accent double-ended pencil in Topaz Taupe/Heather

March 19, 2008 · Leave a Comment

When I first saw Aveda’s Petal Essence Triple Accent two-ended pencils, I thought it would be a convenient lipcolor and highlighter pencil in one. But it’s so much more than that!

WHAT MAKES AVEDA PETAL ESSENCE TRIPLE ACCENT SPECIAL

All of the colors have great antioxidants and moisturizers in them – Bilberry, Blueberry, Cranberry, Jojoba Oil, Orchid oil, and Sunflower oil.

I love when color products have treatment properties to them – and you can’t beat those antioxidants for repairing your skin. Sunflower oil is one of my favorite moisturizers (find a bottle at a health food store and start moisturizing your legs with it now, you will have amazing looking legs by shorts season!), and Jojoba works to drive the sunflower oil deeper into your skin. In short – the stuff in this pencil is great for your skin!

THE EXPERIENCE

I tried four variations of the pencil (they are all beautiful – it’s worth picking up more than one color!), and I’ll be posting about each combo in the upcoming days. I’m particularly impressed with the Topaz Taupe/Heather combo (the one the farthest to the right in the picture). The lip pencil side (Heather) is a pretty, ever so slightly iridescent burnished russet-coral. It modifies easily with either gloss on top or a lip liner or stain underneath – a definite advantage over lip colors that turn mud brown when mixed with anything else.

I found that my lips look full and moisturized. It lasted through a soup and pasta meal without smearing or wearing away – which really impressed me for a moisturizing formula. I’d advise using a lip brush to apply it if you want a precise application – it is more of a lipstick consistency than a lipliner. But I had success in applying it straight on my lips from the pencil and getting a good line and good coverage.

The eye color side of the pencil, Topaz Taupe, really blew me away. First I applied it as a eyeliner. My lashes are pretty long right now (Style Chicks spoiler alert: watch for a post in a few weeks in which I’m complaining that my lashes are in the short part of their growth cycle…), and I haven’t been wearing eyeliner all that much lately – just seems a little over the top with long lashes. But my eyes still looked kinda bare without any liner. Enter Topaz Taupe – this is the perfect color and consistency all around the eye. I could not place why my eyes looked so big and awake with it on, then I realized that light was reflecting off the liner and back-lighting my eyelashes! Each lash was defined in its little halo of light – my lashes stood out, not the liner itself. The inner rim of my eye looked bright white, which made my eyes look big and gave the overall appearance that I was wide awake and refreshed (I was anything but wide awake and refreshed, BTW)

I quickly applied it as an eyeshadow to see if it had the same effect on my top lashes (it did!), and once I got past the fact that my lashes looked long and extremely black, I was impressed with the consistency and brightness of the color as an eyeshadow. My eyelid looked dewy and slightly smokey – very wearable during the day, and a great base for a more smokey eye at night. And one extra coat on the crease sealed the deal that this pencil will be my go-to eye pencil for rushed mornings. It lasted all day and the creamy consistency didn’t fade or smudge.

CONCLUSION

This is one of few cream products that work for me as an eyeshadow – cream eyeliner is good for me (and I cannot underscore enough how great this is as an eyeliner), but prior to the Triple Accent pencil in Topaz Taupe, I’ve never had great success with cream eyeshadows. But Aveda did an outstanding job with this one!

WHERE TO FIND IT

Stay tuned for more Aveda Petal Essence Triple Accent pencils in the upcoming days – and in the meantime, go order Topaz Taupe/Heather at Aveda.com!