Older Girl Beauty » Primer

Chella’s Rebranding Star

Paula — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:18:02 +0000

Everyone loves a chance to reinvent/rebrand themselves. Like the shy girl at school who moves to a new school district and gets to suddenly become the outgoing hottie she really was under the braids and glasses at her old school. Or even the serum that realized it could become a multi-tasking powerhouse. Such is the case with Chella’s “Skin Firming Serum Daily Primer”.

Chella Skin Care has been busy rebranding themselves this year, which includes a new website, logo and packaging. Not only that, they realized that one of their popular serums would do double duty as a great makeup primer. (*You guys know how much I love a good primer.) They say it will:

Reduces Appearance of Wrinkles: Amino Acids work to both improve skin’s elasticity and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
Creates a Long Wearing Make-up Foundation: Formulated to create the perfect smooth and taut prepped face perfectly primed for enduring make up application without a tacky feel or residue.
Helps Soothe and Repair: Grape Seed and Green Tea extract nurture skin.

All of this means that with continued use, it will help to keep the elasticity in your skin and help to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. I can tell you that I had a chance to try this and I felt a not unpleasant tightening of the skin – like it was straightening everything out, kinda like a sheet on a bed. Now, I don’t have a lot of deepset wrinkles that this would affect (*knock wood), but I did feel like my skin was smooth and ready for my makeup – which after application, I could tell that it helped my tinted moisturizer last longer than with out it, so, it does work for that. One downside is that there is not any SPF in this, so be sure to apply some via sunscreen or moisturizer when you use this.

This runs for $90 on Chella’s site, which can be tough for a lot of you. But, if you are looking to cut down on the number of products you are using daily, combining those products costs & the fact that you only use a few drops, making this 1oz pump last a long time, this might just be the product for you.

So, what say you? Do you like multi-tasking products or do you like individual products with a specific purpose?

Simply ageless way to smooth the face

Paula — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:58:59 +0000

Do you guys remember when I first mentioned CoverGirl & Olay Simply Ageless Serum Primer back in March when we were talking about how makeup artist Molly Stern used it on Maggie Gyllenhaal at the Oscars? I was excited to hear this product was coming out and couldn’t wait to try it. I am happy to say that I had a chance to try this out and I really like it.

I didn’t know what to expect, with the word “serum” in the name. I think I thought it would be more of a clear liquid, like a typical serum, but it’s not. It is a white cream primer, with serum in it. (*Even tho the site claims the color is “Clear”, it’s not.) It applies like other primers, before your makeup, but due to its creaminess, it doesn’t take much product to cover my whole face. In fact, one full pump (*yay – pump) was almost too much for mine, which means this bottle will last quite a while.

They say:

Hydrates and smooths skin for an ageless canvas.
Helps boost skins elasticity.
Creates a finish that looks instantly firm.

I say, my skin felt soft & hydrated using this. It dried to a soft finish, so I could go without any foundation or tinted moisturizer, if I wanted to. It didn’t melt off quickly, which is saying a lot in this miserable Oklahoma summer heat. Now, I can’t say that I felt that it “firmed” anything, but I don’t really look for that in a primer. I like something that evens out my face (not skintone), doesn’t melt away and not do anything to help my makeup stay in place & has good for me ingredients. This does all of these things for me, and with a drugstore pricetag. Nice.

We know that I have a thing for primers and I can say that I really like this one. I think that even tho its a part of the “Simply Ageless” line of products, this would be a good primer for just about any one looking for hydration, or even just a fair price point to get started into using a primer, if you haven’t already. It runs $10-$13ish depending on where you look, (*CVS/Walgreen’s/Target/Walmart/Ulta), but there are usually coupons/sales around. However, there is one negative that I need to point out – there is no SPF in this. Now, that’s not a deal breaker for me, as I will make sure to use other products that have SPF in them, but I don’t want you counting on this one to help you out there. Hopefully, in future versions, they will add that to this.

I’m hearing that it may not be out every where yet. Have you guys seen it/picked it up yet? Lemme know if you have, I wanna know what you think about it, too.

Priming the palette

Paula — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:04:29 +0000

Up until a couple of years ago, I had no idea what a face primer was, nor what it could do for you when applying makeup. Well, I have come to learn *plenty* about them now & want to make sure that you do, too.In the video I mention the following primers, and tried to touch on their price points, but I did so with out any notes. I’ll list them here, with links for more details on them, and will list their current SRP:Avon MagiX – $10 (on sale now for $7.95) (*bought this myself)Tricia Sawyer Skin Balancing Water Primer – $34 (*bought this myself)Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Luminizing Face Primer – $10 (on sale at CVS for $7.99) (*bought this myself)Stila Hydrating Primer SPF 15 – $34 (*PR provided)Cover FX Clear Prep FX – $39 (*PR Provided)Peter Thomas Roth Un-Wrinkle Primer – $38 (*PR Provided)Two Faced Shadow Insurance – $17 (*bought this myself)L’Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes Mascara – $10.95 (*bought this myself)Cover FX Mint Glaze FX Primer – $22 (*PR Provided)I also mentioned, but didn’t show:L’Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base – $13Urban Decay Primer Potion – $18I also wanted to mention one that I had forgotten to show in the video, the Clinique Redness Solutions Daily Protective Base SPF 15. This is a primer that not only sets your skin for your foundation, it does so by correcting the redness in your skin, with a green tint, if that is one of your problems – $17.50 (*PR Provided)Just so you know, I have only touched on the brands, and availability, of primer products that are out there. I just wanted to at least let you know how much of a variety there is, and how there is definitely one for you and want you need it to, if you decided to start using a primer. Please let me know if you use any of the ones I mentioned or if this compels you to try one – I’d really like to know.

Maggie G at the Oscars

Paula — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:28:46 +0000

On Sunday, I was front and center for what I call “my own personal Superbowl” – the OSCARS®. I love all the granduer and glamour associated with it (*and apparently the letter “u”) – and get choked up over winners to movies I had never heard before, let alone could pronounce its name. I just get “involved”.Part of the big “pregame” stuff before the show is the “Red Carpet”. I love seeing what everyone is wearing & how they are made up. Now, I’m not going to get all “armchair quarterback” on you with my opinions on everyone. I just wanted to point out one actresses’ look & how she was made up – and esp about one product that *immediately* caught my eye when I read about it. (*watch the bold words).-Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Oscar beauty look, by COVERGIRL celebrity makeup artist, Molly R. Stern:

“Oscar day with Maggie!! Maggie is the muse of spring. Her Dries Van Noten gown is a swirl of bright colors that fades into white. For her makeup I wanted to bring out the color of her eyes with some depth while keeping with the brightness of her overall style. We started off the look by refreshing the skin with Jurlique Rose Water spray. Then I prepped the skin with Shu Uemura red:juvenus vitalizing concentrate and lightly moisturized with La Mer moisturizing lotion. For a flawless complexion I primed Maggie’s skin with COVERGIRL & Olay Simply Ageless Serum Primer (out in July!!). Then I lightly applied some Chantecaille future skin foundation in the color ‘cream’ only where she needed it. Then lastly I dusted La Mer powder foundation in ‘Ivory’ to set the skin for the big night. For her amber peachy cheeks I used COVERGIRL & Olay Simply Ageless Sculpting Blush in Rich Cinnamon. And dusted some NARS ‘dolce vita’ blush on the apples. For Maggie’s eyes of layered copper smoke I based her eye with COVERGIRL Smoky ShadowBlast in Bronze Fire. Next I deepened her lid with NARS soft touch shadow pencil ‘skorpios’. Then I blended into the crease Shu Uemura pressed eye shadow ‘p brown 810′ and lastly I lightly dusted Shu Uemura pressed eyeshadow in ‘n me brown 860′ all over the lid for a golden finish. For the undereye, I resmudged the COVERGIRL Smoky ShadowBlast under her lash line to bring out the blue of Maggie’s eyes. Finally I defined her lashes by combining brown and black mascara. I painted the lashes with both colors using COVERGIRL LashBlast Length for perfectly flirty long lashes. On Maggies lips I applied NARS ‘schiap’ lip color -it was the perfect shade to finish off the look. Its bright hue matches Maggie’s vibrant sense of style and confidence. The finished product was perfection. She looked like herself. Authentic, cool and beautiful. Being a part of Oscar day with a nominee is such an honor. It’s like an actress’ wedding day with Hollywood. I love being here. I feel so blessed.”

Didja see it? Covergirl & Olay are teaming up again for another Simply Ageless product, to complement their existing Foundation, Blush, Concealer and Corrector – for a Primer! I love me some primer. In fact, I should really do a video about some different ones, soon, I think. Anyway…it’s not going to be released until July, but I am hoping to get some info sometime May/June timeframe. As soon as I do, you know I’ll let you know, too.