Eyes

MAC Beautiful Iris Eyeshadow

November 7, 2016 · Leave a Comment

If you are interested in the MAC Cosmetics eyeshadow in the shade Beautiful Iris, you have likely seen that the various swatches online appear very different from each other, ranging from an almost white to mid-purple.

MAC Beautiful Iris Eyeshadow

Some features:

COLOR: It is a lavender, not lilac or mid-purple, as it may appear to be in some online swatch photos. Notable is a sort of fairy-like, light opal blue shift in the sheen, at some angles, it seems more opalescent than lavender.
TEXTURE: Not chalky, VERY Sheer and requires multiple layers for coverage. If you are more familiar with Urban Decay eyeshadows, the MAC veluxe shadow is not as opaque or thick feeling. It is different in texture from a UD shadow. It does not crease.
FINISH: Shimmer, not cakey. Not glittery. The sheerness negates the old lady, overly cakey, frosted look that some lavenders and lilacs tend to have.
USE: This is suitable for a highlight on the brow, for the sheen on the eyelids, or as a blending shade for creating a seamless look between other purples and maybe some blues.
FALLOUT: I did not get any fallout with use, but it did wear off in a few hours when used without a primer.

WHO WEARS IT BEST: The opal sheen of the shade picks up the golden glint of green, hazel and brown eyes.

Most eyeshadows in the MAC permanent collection are just $6 if you buy the pan refill, $16 in the pot.

Find it at MacCosmetics.com.

MAC Beautiful Iris Eyeshadow

Eyes: Skin2Spirit Organic Caffeine Eye Whip Cream

October 14, 2016 · Leave a Comment

DARK UNDEREYE CIRCLES AND ME
I have had dark undereye circles as long I can remember, even as a young child. People tend to ask if I am tired because of my dark circles. It is difficult to conceal the darkness with makeup very well, and even if I do, there is still the puffy undereye bag. I have tried various products over time, and while some products do lighten to a degree, nothing seems to be able to eradicate them.

OPTIONS FOR DARK, PUFFY UNDEREYES
The best option I have found is a three-prong attack: reduce the puffiness, find a good light deflecting product to visually obscure the darkness, and make sure that product is creamy enough to apply concealer on top, yet not so greasy that my makeup wears off. And when possible, contain anti-aging ingredients to combat wrinkles and sagging.

A tall order indeed.
SKIN2SPIRIT ORGANIC CAFFEINE EYE WHIP CREAM: HOW TO SACK THE DREAD MORNING PUFFY EYE

The Skin2Spirit Organic Caffeine Eye Whip Cream is a coffee-scented, highly creamy de-puffying eye antidote that helps to reduce the appearance of under-eye bags and dark circles. While dark circles occur for a variety of reasons and can be treated with various degrees of success, a good product can sack undereye puffiness with success.

Skin2Spirit does just that with a host of soothing ingredients.

Skin2Spirit Organic Caffeine Eye Whip Cream

INGREDIENTS: AN INTERESTING COMBO TO SHRINK BAGS FAST

While eye creams boast about having 2-5 good ingredients, this one has a whole slew of them including nourishing Aloe, skin texture improving Rosehip Oil, conditioning Coconut Oil, soothing anti-inflammatory Green Tea and Cucumbers. These soothing ingredients keep the eye area dewy looking while caffeine removes excess fluids and tightens the bag pronto.

While many eye creams contain caffeine, Skin2Spirit does something unusual by pairing caffeine with multiple anti-oxidant fruits and natural anti-aging ingredients that aid in youthifying the eye with wrinkle reduction, improving elasticity, and promoting Collagen production. Increased collagen means a stronger undereye bag that is less susceptible to wrinkles, sagging and puffiness. Collagen also reduces undereye discoloration due to sun exposure. This gives an immediate improvement in the appearance of the under eye bag, plus provides the skin with the ingredients for improvements in skin structure, coloration, and texture.

The fruit combination is a nourishing one: it contains power anti-oxidant fruits such as Acai, Blueberries, Goji Berry, Noni Berry, GAC Fruit, Mangosteen, Grapeseed, Brown Seaweed, Pomegranate. High in Vitamin C, these provide short term a short-term antioxidant remedy and long-term Vitamin C induced collagen production to tighten and lighten the actual undereye bag.

Another important ingredient that is used almost exclusively in expensive eye creams is Sea Buckthorn. Sea Buckthorn soothes sensitive skin conditions and heals skin damage such as burns and abrasions. It encourages the skin to produce more collagen by treating aged skin as if it was wounded skin that needs to heal. It is very gentle and ideal for the undereye area and immediately plumps wrinkles and lines. It is also very nourishing with over 200 skin nutrients.

Skin2Spirit Organic Caffeine Eye Whip Cream

APPLICATION AND USE
A notable detail is this is a large bottle for an eye product, almost 2-3 times the size of other eye products I own. And you only need less than half a pump for both eyes. I also like to use some on the side of my eyes up to my temples.

It is very creamy but melts in beautifully without a residue or greasy feel. I wait about five minutes just to allow it to absorb and shrink the eye bag before applying any concealer or foundation on top.

RESULTS:
My left undereye bag is naturally larger and longer than the right, it seems puffier and makes my eyes look uneven. I was pleased to see about 10 minutes after product application that the extra puffiness on the left was dissipated, which made my eyes look even! Nice! It also left a lovely light deflecting property on the skin that was both dewy looking and obscured any fine lines around my eyes. My makeup applied smoothly atop the cream and did not melt quickly. I was very pleased!

CONCLUSION: I am excited to see such a powerful group of ingredients to make a nourishing eye cream, as well as to have a product in my beauty arsenal that can eradicate under eye puffiness so quickly and thoroughly. My circles are especially dark, so the dual approach of plumping fine lines and wrinkles while deflecting the light upon application combined with long-term benefits of the fruit cocktail including Vitamin C and other helpful anti-aging ingredients makes the best of a life-long dark circle problem. Organic Caffeine Eye Whip Cream leaves undereye skin looking good enough to go out without even concealer, which for me is a pretty big deal.

Find Skin2Spirit Organic Caffeine Eye Whip CreamÂ here.

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I received this product at a discount for my unbiased review and received compensation for my time and effort. However, my experience with the product and the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine.

KLM Cosmetics Organic Eye Cream for Dark Circles

July 27, 2016 · Leave a Comment

KLM COSMETICS ORGANIC EYE CREAM FOR DARK CIRCLES

I’ve had dark circles since I was a kid, and they got worse over time with age and sun damage. There are numerous causes for dark circles, and I have several of them: genetics, allergies, and leaking capillaries. Leaking capillaries under the eye look bluish when the capillaries first leak and turn brown as the blood settles and gets trapped in the skin tissue. Because of this, many of the traditional remedies don’t work for me when it comes to lightening the circle or concealing it. Also, my under eye skin is thin and somewhat transparent, which makes it difficult to conceal the circle itself.

WHAT MY DERMATOLOGIST ADVISED FOR DARK UNDER-EYE BAGS
I spoke to a dermatologist about my dark under-eye bags. Short of surgery, there are few options for dark under-eye bags. So my Derm suggested I can: 1) wear products that deflect light on the dark part of the undereye and 2) reduce the puffiness and the swelling that make the eye bag look so much larger and thereby makes me appear much older and tired. So when I heard about this KLM Eye Cream for Dark Circles that treats puffy eyes, I was all over it.

ABOUT KLM COSMETICS ORGANIC EYE CREAM FOR DARK CIRCLES
Some organic ingredients in this cream are well-known, others are not. Japanese Green Tea, Black Tea, and White Tea on the eye bag is a well-known remedy for reducing inflammation and puffiness as well as nourishing the skin. Aloe Vera Juice nourishes skin and soothes it. Rooibos is an amazing anti-inflammatory that drains excess fluids.

Some of the less known but important ingredients are:

Gotu Kola repairs skin shrinks swollen membranes and helps eliminate excess fluids. Particularly notable about Gotu Kola is Asiaticoside and madagascoside, which may help keep veins and other blood vessels from leaking. This is important for people like me who have undereye bags with a bluish tint. Few products address this type of dark circle problem, and even fewer do it organically.
Peptides hold amino acids, the building blocks of skin protein. This cream’s peptide is Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, which mimics the human body’s mechanism to produce collagen. By triggering collagen production around the eye, skin becomes firmer, tighter, less saggy, and fine lines are reduced with long-term use.
Camellia sinensis Seed Oil is Green Tea Oil. It emulsifies, is an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory agent that soothes and treats.
EcoCert Glycine Betaine (Beet) Sugar Extract restores hydration and imparts a youthful luster to the skin. Dull skin just looks old, so this is a very beneficial ingredient. It also serves as a light deflector – something the Dermatologist told me to look for – making the undereye area seem less sunken and appear brighter.

Unlike some puffy eye bag reducing products, there are no drying ingredients such as caffeine. Reducing puffiness without drying the skin is a big perk of the KLM COSMETICS Organic Eye Cream.

APPLICATION
One small pump is enough for both eye bags and surrounding area. The gel applied smoothly. Since Aloe Vera is an ingredient and the product is a gel consistency, I expected it might be sticky like an Aloe Vera gel, but it is not. It takes a few minutes to dry. Once it dries, I could apply makeup over it without any problem such as the type of tackiness that some gels leave on the skin, as it dried completely without a residue and did not cause my makeup to wear off faster. It seemed to serve as something of a base. It does not sting or irritate my eyes.

For optimal use, before applying any makeup, I wait about 15 minutes after application so that the puffiness of my eye bags can dissipate and the fine lines could smooth out before I applied concealer to the under eye bag itself. This gives a much smoother overall look to the eye area.

I found that leaving the bottle in the refrigerator enhanced the cooling and de-inflaming properties of the gel. And in the summer months, it feels especially good on the skin!

I formerly used a MAC gel that did something similar, but it is much more expensive and could not be used on consecutive days without causing irritation to my eye skin. It also just temporarily reduced the puffiness, it did not provide any long-term benefit.

CONCLUSION

Having used all kinds of treatments and concealers for the undereye area, I am very pleased to find an effective, organic product that provides immediate and long-term relief from the appearance of a puffy eye bag. It does not dry out the skin; it provides nutrients that strengthen the blood vessels and provides a light deflecting property to give an overall brighter appearance to the undereye.

Find it at KLM Cosmetics.

I received this product in exchange for my unbiased review and received compensation for my time and effort. However, my experience with the product and the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine.

Sunglasses with SPF: LotFancy Women’s Resin Frame Metal Temples Sunglasses

July 5, 2016 · 4 Comments

LotFancy Women’s Resin Frame Metal Temples Sunglasses

Well, it’s past July 4th, I guess there is no denying that Summer is here. While I wear sunglasses year round, I think summer is a good time to revisit your sunglass game. So we’ll be taking a look at a few varieties in the upcoming weeks.

An important part of a useful summer sunglass is a lens with UV protection. Not only does it protect your eye, but a proper UV coating also protects the delicate skin around your eye. You know, that part that ages faster than any part of your face.

That is why we like LotFancy Women’s Resin Frame Metal Temples Sunglasses. They have UV400 protection, which means that they guard against 100% of both UVA and UVB rays, so your eyes and orbital skin are completely protected by these lenses.

Sunglasses with UV protection is especially imperative if you don’t have a sunscreen that you can tolerate wearing around your eyes. It took me a long time to find a few sunscreens that don’t irritate my eye skin, and even then, and the extra layer of protection is good to protect the thin skin of the orbital area.

The oversized styling of the frames also works in your favor as far as skin protection. The top of your cheekbones is a prime spot for sun damage, so a pair of sunglasses that covers the area is a wonderful aid in keeping the area wrinkle and age spot free.

I also really like the white colored frames. There is something so fresh, crispy, and summery about white frames. Do you remember the last scene in Gwenyth Paltrow’s Great Expectations? Her oversized white frames exuded classic preppy chic. They also come in black if you want a more classic look.

While I use sunglasses everyday that there is the slightest of sun peaking out (over my sunscreen that I wear rain or shine, of course), these sunglasses are a must for vacations to sunny locales. Did you read that fantastic article about Italy in Allure this month? How amazing would these glasses look as you spend the day on the gorgeous Italian coast?

Lot Fancy makes a great pair of sunglasses at a reasonable cost, and the UV400 protection rivals $200 pairs of sunglasses. So whether you are looking for an everyday pair or an extra pair for the beach, these are worth picking up!.

Find them at Amazon.com.

Style Chicks received samples for review.

New York Biology Eye Gel

June 3, 2016 · Leave a Comment

New York Biology Eye Gel is a generously-sized 1.7-ounce container at a very reasonable price point, especially for an eye gel. The price is particularly exceptional for an eye cream with so many ingredients that are typically found in expensive creams the come in tiny containers.

APPLICATION
I found this easy to apply with no residue; it was not greasy or oily upon dry down. Once dry, it provides a smooth and dewy surface for applying makeup, but it also can be worn on a bare face when I choose to go out without any eye makeup. After a few minutes, it reduces my mild morning eye puffiness, especially since I started keeping this eye gel in my refrigerator, which makes for a new cooling treat on the eyes. I also use it at night over my Retinol serum. One pump is enough to cover both eyes; I do another two pumps to cover my forehead, brows, and temple area.

BEST USE
I like to combine the New York Biology Eye Gel with my Vitamin C serum during the day and Retinol Serums at night to maximize my skin care routine. The ingredients in the eye gel have an excellent synergy with these serums. The gel can be used on the forehead and temples as well. The scent is light and neutral and suitable for men and women.

NOTABLE INGREDIENTS
This eye gel contains one of my favorite anti-aging ingredients, Matrixyl 3000. Matrixyl 3000 is a combination of two peptides that signal the skin to go into “repair mode.” Typically the skin goes into repair mode when there is an injury to the skin that requires the formation of new collagen and elastin; it does not go into repair mode for age-related collagen loss. Matrixyl 3000 “tricks” the skin into thinking the missing collagen is due to injury and requires replacement. The gel also has Amino Acid Complex, the protein of collagen building blocks. I pair this eye gel with my Vitamin C serum; the C supplies additional components to build collagen and elastin. More collagen means fewer wrinkles, less sagging and overall younger looking skin.

Hyaluronic Acid is another one of my favorite anti-aging ingredients because it super-hydrates the skin making it appear dewy and plump. Hyaluronic Acid absorbs moisture from the skin and air and pulls it into wrinkles and sagging skin and instantly improves their appearance by plumping them. Hyaluronic Acid also helps skin care ingredients such as Vitamin C sink deeper into the skin so they can be more efficient.

Nourishing and moisturizing ingredients soothe the skin and keep it hydrated and soft including Vitamin E, jojoba, and licorice.

OVERVIEW
Great price, pleasant scent, effective product with quality ingredients.

New York Biology Eye Gel

I received this item for testing and unbiased review purposes. If you have any questions about my experience with it, leave it in the comments section below, and Iâ€™ll do my best to answer it!