Older Girl Beauty » smashbox

RevitaBrow makes my Momma work

Paula — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:24:37 +0000

It always makes me catch my breath a bit when my 76yo momma calls me at work. I never know if it’s something simple like “What do you want for dinner?” or more like “I’ve cut myself & am heading over to the doctor’s office now”. So, when she called me this morning to tell me, “I just want you to know that I’m having to trim my eyebrows”, it was a good thing.

See, Momma grew up when you plucked your brows into a *thin* line, so, it was difficult for her to grow any more. Add in the fact that she took a tumble a few years ago, gashing her brow open and the ER doc basically just pulled it up and sewed a jagged line where her brow should be, and you see why she pretty much draws in her brows with her Smashbox Brow Tech To Go on the daily.

Well, when I was in New York for NYFW, I visited the GBK Celebrity Style Lounge and chatted with Bree-Anna from Revitalash about their RevitaBrow. She sent me home with samples for Momma to try and, after the phone call today, I can happily report that she is definitely seeing fuller brows. Now, this is *not* a hair growth serum. This is just a conditioning treatment that helps “revitalize” the brows. But, Momma can atest to the fact that she actually has to maintenance her brows now, which she didn’t need to do before. I’d call that a difference.

How about you guys? Have you plucked your eyebrows into oblivion and need some help making them fuller? Have you tried a brow conditioner to help you out? Let me know!

*Disclaimer: I received this product from the company for editorial consideration.

Grate your shadow as you go

Paula — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:35:25 +0000

I just saw a new Smashbox product for pre-order on QVC that looks kinda interesting.

Actually, it looks like what would be spawned if Smashbox’s Halo Hydrating Perfecting Powder and the Reign Collection Eyeshadow Palette had babies. It is a shaver delivery system for a base color and a contour color, with a protective seal to prevent the shadows from mixing – the Halo Eyeshadow Hydrating Eye Shadow (w/ Brushes 3 & 10).

They say, “A hydrating eye shadow with effective anti-aging benefits. The formula contains hydrogel technology, which helps retain moisture in the skin.” I can’t say anything, as I haven’t tried this, but I am intrigued by the whole “shave what you need” aspect. It’s supposed to give you more of the lighter color for your lid and less for the darker crease color. In addition, they are throwing in the two brushes you need for this affect for less than $40 (man, don’t I sound just like Lisa Robertson? Oh wait, she always says “For less than $1 a day”. Ha!)

This is currently on QVC’s site as Item #A92257, available for pre-order, as Advance Orders ship October 20th. It comes in 4 color combos and includes 2 brushes for $39.54 (plus shipping.)

Let me know if you try this out for yourself.

Smashbox Cosmetics at The Makeup Show – NYC

Paula — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:26:00 +0000

Lori Taylor, Smashbox’s Professional Artistry Relations Manager, was being Pro and showing off all of the great Smashbox products in their booth at The Makeup Show – NYC. I swear, you can NOT stump this lady – which is really great.

In fact, she is so good at it, that she gave a presentation at the show over what she called “Needed Basics”.

Seriously, she knows what she’s talking about and even if you think you had everything, it’s great to hear about something you might have missed. Now, as much as it was compelling to watch Lori tell us the basics, it’s hard not to ignore these FIERCE shoes she was wearing:

She told me that she had comfy shoes under her table she was putting on after her presentation, so she wouldn’t be rocking these babies all day long. I woulda done the same thing. Oh wait, I wore Chucks. I couldn’t have managed those in the *first* place. Ha.

*My fav Smashbox product is the Waterproof Shadow Liner in Hollywood, which is a bronzey color, that when put on with the Smashbox #30 brush is like a great smudgey liner in a second. But, I gotta say, I got a Fusion Soft Lights in Sunset from Lori, and I have used it almost every day since. I don’t do bronzers, but this has a soft yellow in it that I use on top of my cheeks and it gives me a gorg glow. Love it!

The Makeup Show swag

Paula — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:34:00 +0000

Okay, let’s talk about the goodies first. Goodies are good, right?Now, I didn’t get to finish the tour at the blogger preview so I didn’t swing some of the things they did (*ahem – OCC Liptar in Grandma or a Luminess Airbrush Tanning System, but I did get to meet Pat McGrath, so there’s that. Ha.). Anyway, this is what I walked away from the show with:

Obsessive Compulsive nail polish in Dangerous, Traffic & Rhythm Box

Mario Badescu samples

Embryolisse samples

Pencil Me In eyeliner in Brownie

Three Custom Color “L Word” lipsticks in Bette, Kit, Alice and Shane

Three Custom Color lipgloss in Faerie Floss

Giselle Cosmetics 6 in 1 Eye Shadows in Renaissance

Smashbox Fusion Soft Lights in Sunset

Smashbox mini-glosses in Happy Hour and Accessories (?)

Stila Smudge Pot in Golden Noir

Stila 24k Gloss in Golden Charm

Stila Convertible Mascara

FACE atelier Ultra Foundation in #2 Ivory and #3 Wheat

Crown Brush #IB123 Foundation Brush

So, there we have it. Not a bad haul of neat new things to try. As I post about the vendors to follow, I will talk about what I’ve tried and my thoughts on them, too.

See anything you like?

The Makeup Show – Blogger Preview

Paula — Fri, 22 May 2009 13:31:00 +0000

On Saturday, May 16th, I was one of a lucky couple dozen beauty bloggers invited to a preview of The Makeup Show, a makeup trade show of some of the most influential cosmetic companies to date, put on by The Powder Group. We were greeted with wine, cheese, crackers and fruit for a bit of snack and an informal meet and greet. (Which I apparently sucked at since I didn’t meet Miss Dina from eye4style until I was leaving and she came up to me. Ha!)

Once we were all gathered, The Powder Group founder Michael DeVellis welcomed us and told us just how important and vital that us, as beauty bloggers, are to promotion nowadays. You could really tell by his enthusiasm and sincerity that he truly believes that we are the way of things to come in how information is put out there – esp since we have a passion for product and not just the freebies.

He then handed us over to the fabulous makeup artist, James Vincent. His work has been everywhere – and don’t even get him started on American Idol or ANTM, please. He was a great tour guide thru the aisles, as he had something generous to say about each of the vendors and gave us his recommendations for his secret weapons from each one that he carries in his kit. (*Funny story – he knows a local makeup line – t.a.l.k. beauty, that was started by 4 friends in Oklahoma City, who work/spend time around a local beauty store called The Makeup Bar, where I have been known to drop a penny or two. James knows Alex over there, was curious if she was coming to the show. Well, I have @themakeupbar on twitter and sent her a message for him. Teeny tiny world we live in, eh?)

I’ll just show a few of the vendors we got to see this day, with a few pics for now, as I will go a bit more in depth on a few of them when I post about what I saw the actual day of the show.

We were also introduced to Emmy Award winning makeup artist, Kevin Bennett, who is the Director of Artist Relations for Make Up For Ever. MUFE is celebrating their 25th Anniversary and Kevin was there to debut their new HD concealer. (*Remind me to tell you how we *really* met – LOL)

Some of the other vendors there were Becca Cosmetics, Mehron Theatrical Makeup, Tempu Cosmetics – Airbrush and Lord & Berry.

There were also two other great companies represented at the show – Stila Cosmetics and Smashbox Cosmetics. At the Stila booth, was VP of Global Sales, Artistry & International Marketing, Desiree Tordecilla, who was kind enough to clear up a little bit about the Stila closure in March and present us the Stila Summer ’09 24K Gold Collection:

I have so much more to say about Desi and Stila, but I will save it for my Stila specific post.

And, at the Smashbox booth was the fab Ms. Lori Taylor, Professional Artistry Relations Manager. She was so great and knowledgeable about what works, she was just a joy to talk to.

She gave a presentation at the show on needed basics, and wore some *fierce* shoes – I’ll have to show you that, too.

These lovely ladies were sweet enough to stop and take a picture with me, as I had to leave the preview early:

Seriously, just how freakin’ awesome was that? Thank you so much, ladies!

And, since I had to leave early, I didn’t get to meet everyone at the p
review, but I def made up for it when I attended the actual show the next day. I want to take a second and thank everyone at The Powder Group for a really enjoyable afternoon. I really liked getting a “Behind the Scenes” peek at the show.