Older Girl Beauty Blog

Pen-t up beauty

oldergirlbeauty — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:36:44 -0500

Last week on twitter I commented, "Would really like to see liquid liner pens in different colors besides any variation on "Black". I said that because I had realized that *if* you could find an eyeliner "pen", more than likely it was going to be some shade of black & maybe a dark brown. Maybe.

So, I went on a hunt to see if I was more crazy than usual in wanting something "not typical". I didn't have much luck looking online with just normal searches. However, me and my dumb luck walked into Sephora and stumbled right into two colored eyeliner pens - Green (deep forest green) and Blue (teal blue).

AND, while talking to the SA, she mentioned that the tokidoki perfetto eyeliner pens were getting ready to hit the shelves. The neat thing about these is that not only do they come in *8* shades (Arlecchino (dark blue), Carina (eggplant), Ciao Ciao (periwinkle), Donutella (medium pink), Mostro (spring green), Rondine Love (white), Sabochan (black) and SANDy (dark green)), they also come with a "chisled" tip so you can easily make thick or thin lines and even create a temp tattoo, if you wanted.

Then, today, I look on the Eyeko website and see that *they* are getting ready to come out with 3 new colored eyeliner pens, Brown, Purple and Navy Blue, to go along with their existing Black Graffiti Eyeliner Pen.

Okay, so, I gotta admit it is nice to know I am not the only one that wants the ease of the felt-tipped eyeliner pen, but in more colors than black. I think the thing that surprises me is the lack of mainstream availability. I mean, it didnt occur to me to even check Sephora's house brand, I literally glanced down and there they were, tokidoki is a limited collaboration with Sephora and Eyeko is a UK brand. Makes me curious why the larger brands don't create more brands - like, is it a physical product issue or just a marketing, "we don't think we could sell it in any other colors", kind of thing. Either way, I am just happy to see the option out there.

If you know of another brand that carries colored eyeliner pens, please let me know - I'd really like to know about'em. Also, if these make you want to try a different colored pen out, let me know, too. I kinda like knowing I'm not the only one that wants'em.

Beauty in all forms

oldergirlbeauty — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:30:39 -0600

You guys know, I don't get into "sizeism" here. I'm a big girl, I think I'm beautiful & I really try to encourage other women to appreciate how beautiful they are, too, by way of compliments and encouragement. That is why it just gets me so disappointed when I hear other people being discouraging - whether they intend to or not.

This is Gabby Sidibe. She is a beautiful and talented Oscar nominated actress that just radiates joy. She was so pleased with how she looked on Oscar night, she declared herself "fashion porn". Even famed film critic, Roger Ebert noticed it when he tweeted: "Gabby picked a great dress. But what do I know? She was so happy. Comfortable within her ownself.". I absolutely agree.

That is why I got so disappointed last night, when, while tweeting away with so many lovely people last night about all of the things going on, I recieved this message, re: Gabby:

"I do hope that she (*Gabby) loses some of the weight. She will probable (sic) never be an 8, but she is too pretty (*to be a big girl)."

This came from a (shall remain publicly nameless) beauty blogger that has been active for over 3 years & has over 4,000 twitter followers, so, they aren't a newbie or someone that people haven't discovered, yet. They are someone with a voice that can, and is, heard far and wide. I think that is what stung so badly - they actively promote beauty, yet they project an image of one that appreciates beauty in a narrowly focused vision, which is a damn shame.

While we may not always agree what is "beautiful", we all should know that we can, and do, impact other people with our opinions and actions. All it takes is encouragement to spread joy, no matter what we see. Please take the time to continue to foster that thought, instead of knocking something because it's not what *you* would like to see. Especially on this "International Women's Day".

*Edit: As of this morning, before this post, the quoted tweet was deleted. I'm going to hope that they reconsidered what they said, instead of just not wanting to deal with the possible pushback from people seeing it.

"Confirmation I Kick Ass"

oldergirlbeauty — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:42:00 -0600

Just wanted to let you Lovelies know that I have been picked up by Alltop.com and am now listed in their Beauty Topic section. This is so great to be on the same page as so many great beauty bloggers, and I just wanted to take just a moment and brag.

*taps foot a few times

Right. That's that. We're done here. Move along now, but come back and see me again soon. :)

Petra Strand - Pixi display

oldergirlbeauty — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:31:00 -0500

Right at the beginning of the aisle in Target was the new diffusion line from Petra Strand, Pixi. She is calling this "Makeup to Wakeup" and it is very much about sets.The display is all backed with the pastel green shade that is the coloring of the the packaging. With as much as was on display, it was almost a bit too much for me.

Up top there is a cream "mineral veil" compact foundation. (When did everything become "mineral veils and not foundations? Does that just sound too old fashioned and heavy? Or is it just trendy to say "mineral" in everything now? Anyway...) There are also three shades of eye brightener and a "Fresh Face Collection", which seems like a grab it kit. Next to that, and what caught my eye, were three concealer tubes with what looks like a roller ball application. I am def going to go back and see what that is all about. Next to that are several lip glosses.
Next to that, and what caught my eye, were three concealer tubes with what looks like a roller ball application. I am def going to go back and see what that is all about. Next to that are several lip glosses.

On the next shelf and below you can see that this line is all about palettes and things that are meant to go together. In the middle are Lip Silks and Energy Blushes, which are helpfully numbered to go together. There is also something in the little white bottle called "Eye Colour Sealer" - not certain how that works, either. Next to that are the Lid & Line pencil liners and then 3 colors of gel liners, which are a black, deep navy and a dark green.
On the next shelf down are the over abundance of palette variety. What the other two lines lacked, this line more than makes up for. There are thirteen (13!) Eye Beauty Kits. These are shadow only palettes. Down a shelf lower, you will see that there are 3 Lip Glow Kits that are all lippie colors. You can also see in the lower right a Lume Lux Eye Palette and a Lume Lux Lip Palette, just in case any of the other mulitudes weren't just what you wanted. Next to those palettes are three shades of mineral make-up, a set of travel brushes and then three shades of bronzer, too.

There are also two Water Blushes that seem to be modeled after benetint . The darker Chestnut Stain might be close, but the lighter Rose Stain is def no posietint.
Next to the stains is an eye primer, which makes me even more curious about the Colour Sealer. On the other side is really what I would say is the closest thing to a lipstick there, but really it was more of a moisturizing lip color, and there was only two of them.

Here's a better pic of the a number of the glosses that there are. They call these "Lip Boosters". Lots of claims on these: "Boost volume to improve lip contour by filling in fine lines. Provides maximum hydration and helps restore collagen, formulated for dry sensitive lips". Okay, wow. That's alot of talk for a shiny pretty for the lips, doncha think? These have a built in brush for application. Again, didn't test these out for stickiness, because, really, isn't that important, too? ;) This is a better pic of the "Illuminating Tint and Conceal" tubes which has what looks to be a rollerball applicator. It also has an SPF 2o in it.

More go together products, this time the Lip Blush and the Sheer Cheek Gel. Again, these are also helpfully numbered to make sure that you get the most complementary shades together.
I didn't play with these, but it looks like the Lip Blushes also have the brush applicator. I will have to go back and see how thick of a consistency the Sheer Cheek Gel is, and if its sticky. (I kid.)

In addition the the travel brush set, and keeping with the sets ideas, is the travel "Must-Have Kit". It is an all-in-one kit that comes in three shades, "Pretty Perky", "Bronze Bombshell" and "Ravishing Rosy".
Each kit contains a full set of brushes, two eye colours, two lip colours and a cheek glow. Each in matching colour combos. (See? All working together...)

And, I am not sure if I mentioned it, but I wanted to let you know that there are also eyeshadow palettes available in this line. Seriously.
I gotta say that this line had the most variety of all three of the new lines at Target - to the most that I think it is too much. Do we really need 13! eyeshadow palettes to choose from? I know I don't, esp if it is like any other palette I have ever bought in that I don't use every color in it - there is always that one that just sits there, unused, taunting me with its uselessness.

Again, must mention price points. Still a bit much for me, considering what upper brands I can get for right at or just a bit more than these. Granted there are items in this (and the other lines) that peak my interest, we will see if I actually buy in to these upper-mid range diffusion lines.

At least I like the fact that they are out there, if that says anything.

*If you missed seeing the other displays, here are the Jemma Kidd and NP set links.

Napoleon Perdis - NP set display

oldergirlbeauty — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 10:45:00 -0500

Just around the corner from the Jemma Kidd display in Target was the display for the new Napoleon Perdis diffusion line NP set.
Not as brightly colored as the JK display, but looking like a compact set of essentials but with more variety in colors.

Top shelf was for the eyes. I noticed that he is not that big into pallettes with this line, like JK. On the top shelf are the 4 eyeshadow pallettes he has - 3 are brownish neutrals and one is a blue grey one.
To the right of those are the mascara and these neat two color loose powders with pointed sponge applicators. Some neat pairs in those sticks.

The next shelf was for the lips, with a range of lipsticks, some neat compact glosses (but unfortunately I didn't see any lip brushes anywhere, so fingertip application it is) with a mirror in the lid.
He also had a lip stain and a plumper in tubes. Next to those were his lip gloss tubes, which were some nice deeper colors. There is one on the end that was a really bright red/pink with sparkles, tho. I didn't test these, so I am not certain how sticky they are.

He had a nice range of lippie colors that felt good when swiped, but I'm not certain of staying power of these, either.
I do, however, really like the tubes themselves, with the color on top for quick id. That is not the actual lipstick product, but a nice insert at the end of the tube in plastic. (See it? My wrist strap was trying to point it out for you.)

Here is a better close up of the 6 gloss compacts. As you can tell, the available cotton swabs were used ever so carefully to get a sample of each of these glosses.

The only other true pallette I saw was for this concealer. Coming with its own brush, it looks like you can mix and match to get your own perfect shade, even if you have reddish undertones that need the green to balances.
He also has concealer in the tube with a click pen application. I know The Muse with definitely try that out just for the applicator alone. ;)

Next to his concealer was his "Memory Foundation", a compact powder foundation. It contains Australian Myrtle oil "which boasts healing properties for the skin".
I am not certain how that works, but with 7 different shades, it looks like he has given enough of a variety for more women to try and find out for themselves.

On the bottom shelf was the face products. Included in this were these 4 baked color duos. They were not a bit shimmery, meant to be very matte. He also offers a travel brush set.
Just past the baked duos were three cream blushes, in stick form, and 4 "Mineral Veils", which were his liquid foundations (you can kind of see where they are in the display in one of the upper pics). These still had the plastic on them sealed up, but they had a Tester sticker on them, so I expect to go back and check these out soon.

Overall, I think there is more variety in colors with this over the JK line, however they both have different packaging for what they do have. Again, still not digging on the price points overall, but after testing there may be one or two that I might need to get.

Up next will be the last new display that I saw, the diffusion line Pixi, by Petra Strand.

*Just in case you didn't see the other displays, here are the Jemma Kidd and Pixi links.