Tarina Tarentino Conditioning Lip Sheen in Floriculture

Hello folks!!

In case your curious to know what my favorite lipstick formula is at the moment  ..this is the post you got to read!! 😀 Tarina Tarentino is a brand which was available at Sephora a couple of years ago and now they are available online at their website and at Hautelook as far as I know. I purchased this lip sheen on Hautelook a couple of months ago and fell in love with the formula!

Tarina Tarentino Conditioning Lip Sheen

Before we discuss how fantastic the formula is, let us take a moment to admire the packaging ;). The lipstick is housed in a gun metal tube with crystals adorning the lid. I had a hard time trying to take a decent photograph of the tube due to the shinny metallic tube reflecting light! The tube has a heavy luxury feel to it and is definitely not made of cheap thin plastic. yay!

Conditioning lip sheen in Floriculture

The shade I picked up is called Floriculture and it is pretty dark looking in the tube. It looks like a violet based dark red. This was unexpected since online it didn’t look so dark and I was a bit apprehensive about the color when I first got it in the mail. Upon application though, I liked the look of it on my lips! It didn’t look vampy and I could easily wear it to work.

More than the color, what I really loved about the lip sheen is the formula. It feels so comfortable on the lips! It was moisturizing (after all they do call it a conditioning lip sheen!) and it did not dry my lips out throughout the day like some ‘moisturizing’ lip products do.  It glides on like a balm and leaves a shiny finish on the lips which fades as the day goes by. The color payoff is just right in my opinion, its not too sheer nor is it opaque.

Swatches of the Tarina Tarentino lip sheen in Floriculture (single swipe)

The color can be built to your liking which is great since there are days when I want slightly darker purple based red lips :D! With a single swipe as shown in the picture you get a lovely subdued color on your lips.

The staying power of this lipstick as with most moisturizing formulas, isn’t comparable with their matte lipstick cousins! I can easily get 4 hours of wear with some drinking and very light eating. I don’t mind reapplying this lipstick since I treat it a bit like a lip balm!

The original price for these guys is around 22$ (from their website) but if you purchase them on hautelook you can get them way cheaper. I think I paid 11$ for this on hautelook though I am not sure since it was a while back.

If I have convinced you to purchase this..then good news! I heard that Tarina Tarentino products are going to be on hautelook today (04/28/2015)!! So head over and try the lip sheen 😉 you can thank me later !! 😀

Until next time…ciao!!!

Aveda Smooth Infusion Naturally Straight

Hello folks!

If your a hair product junkie you most likely would have heard of the salon brand Aveda! A couple of months ago, I was lucky to get a chance to try out their Smooth Infusion Naturally straight curl straightener through a blogger program. Today I thought I’d share my experience and thoughts on this product 🙂

Aveda Smooth Infusion Naturally Straight

Claims:  Progressively loosen curls so your hair will become straighter with each use. They claim that plant derived fibers attach to your hair and help maintain a straight style while fending off frizz. Use of this product makes straight styling/ironing easier.

How to use: Apply the cream in sections to towel dried hair. Blow dry. Flat Iron if needed. Tested on all types of hair and safe for relaxed and color treated hair.

Now before I describe my experience with the product a little background on my hair… I have slightly wavy to straight hair (not poker straight though) that behaves very differently depending on climate conditions 😛 Dry winters means my hair can be almost poker straight with blow drying. Summer humidity equals  unruly flyaways, a little frizz and wavy ends.

I received this product for review around the beginning of winter when my hair is at its best (straightness wise) so I thought I’d take it with me on my travels to humid parts of the world to really test it out :). Long story short, this tube traveled with me to Asia and the middle east where the humidity and heat provided good testing conditions 😀

The first thing I noticed was that the tube is pretty decent in size. You get 5oz of product and considering you need a pea size amount for the whole of your hair (a little over shoulder length), one tube can last you for a while.

I used this as directed on the tube, after towel drying I worked a pea sized amount of the product into my hair and blow dried my hair as usual. The cream has a funny herbal scent to it which thankfully disappears once you apply it on your hair. After a couple of days of regular use I mainly noticed that my hair was soft and shiny with barely any flyaways. My hair didn’t become poker straight but was less unruly and frizzy. In other words the product helped combat some of the craziness that humidity does to my hair 😛 I have to admit that I haven’t tried this product just before flat ironing simply because I don’t flat iron my hair much. Therefore it might be possible to use this product in humid places prior to flat ironing to get poker straight hair.

Now lets take a look at the down side. I personally find it a bit expensive (40$ on amazon) and might not repurchase this because I have used slightly less expensive products that achieve the same results for me in the summer time.

Another thing I’m not too pleased with is the ingredients..the top ingredients are all Silicone based and there are a ton of cheaper products with silicone in them that can achieve the same results (I’ll review one in the coming weeks 😉 ).

Ingredients: Water, Dimethicone, Cetyl Dimethicone, Cetearyl Alcohol, Dimethicone/PEG-10/15 Crosspolymer, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Calophyllum Inophyllum (Tamanu) Seed Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Hydroxypropyltrimonium Hydrolyzed Corn Starch, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein PG-Propyl Silanetriol, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Stearyl Alcohol, Tapioca Starch, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose, Babassuamidopropyltrimonium Methosulfate, Behenamidopropyltrimonium Methosulfate, Polyquaternium-10, Sodium Chloride, Maltodextrin, Fragrance, Linalool, Citranellol, Citral, Limonene, Benzyl Benzoate, Geraniol, Sodium Citrate, Phenoxyethanol.

SO the big question…Do i recommend this product? I am a little conflicted..if your hair type is similar to mine and you live in a place where the humidity levels aren’t terrible maybe not. However if your travelling to or living in a high humidity area then this might help with some of the humidity related hair craziness 😉 I am not sure how this product works for those with really curly hair..some of the reviews from curly haired folks were very positive while it did nothing for others! So its a gamble I guess…you just got to try it to see if it works for you!

Have you tried the Aveda Smooth infusion naturally straight? What do you think?

Until next time…ciao!

 

*PR Sample. Opinions expressed here are my own. (No affiliate links)

The Anna Sui Eye Color Palette

Hello everyone!

Hope your all having a great week so far! Today lets take a look at an eyeshadow palette from the brand Anna Sui. Anna Sui is a well known fashion designer who also has a makeup line known for cutesy and unconventional packaging. Currently I’m on a hunt for new brands to try out so I thought I’ll try something from her makeup line 🙂

The Anna Sui Eye Color Palette

Anna Sui makeup is available online at Beauty.com. I’m not aware of other places in the US where her makeup is sold. I first spotted this palette on beauty.com for 42$ however when I looked around a bit I found the palette on sale (21$) at a UK based website called FeelUnique.com. Since it was 50% off I took the plunge and made my first ever international makeup order 😀 . Unfortunately,the palette is currently out of stock at feelunique and the sale is over as well 😦 but its still available at beauty.com for full price.

The palette has cardboard packaging but I do find it sturdy. I traveled with this palette last weekend and there were no issues. The magnetic closure is strong enough to prevent it from opening up. As you can see from the picture above the palette comes with roses printed on it..I’m not sure if everyone is going to like it..what do you think? Is it tacky or cute/vintage looking? I’m kind of indifferent to it..I don’t mind it but don’t love it either 🙂

Inside the palette

The palette has 10 eyeshadows in total. If your a matte shadow lover, this might not be your cup of tea since there are zero matte shades in here. There is a frosty highlight shade, 3 shadows which have a satin finish, 4 metallic type of shadows and 2 shades with glitter in them.

I was kind of surprised that there was no mirror! Considering the original price point of this palette (42$) I would expect a mirror to be included.  The palette comes with a dual ended applicator which has a brush on one side and a sponge tip on the other. I found this to be rather cheap and not really usable.

A closer look at the shadows

The eyeshadows in this palette do not have individual names/numbers. The shades look very spring appropriate to me and one of the reasons why I was drawn to it is because I don’t have any palette with this sort of a color scheme in my collection. The eyeshadows have a rose scent to them..I will never understand why makeup companies do that! Fortunately, the smell isn’t detectable once you apply these on your lids.

The shades look so pretty in the pan but unfortunately they are pretty sheer when applied on the skin, especially the top row of shadows. Take a look at the swatches and you’ll understand what I’m talking about!

Swatches! (swatched using a brush)

Although I was initially disappointed with the top row of shadows, I am  slowly liking them for everyday toned down looks. The swatches are without primer and with the help of a primer they do tend to show up a bit more. I am extremely pleased with the pigmentation of the bottom row of shadows. All in all you can make the palette work.

I do have to warn you though…they are extremely powdery and hence need to be picked up gently with your brush (no sticking in your brush in a hurry!) The metallic shades apply beautifully but with the 2 glittery shades (the olive green and black) I had a ton of fall out to deal with! even with a primer which is a bummer 😦

Overall, I think this palette is not worth 42$. I rather buy a Lorac pro palette for that money! But if like me you fell in love with shades then I suggest you wait for a discount coupon/sale to purchase this palette. I am glad I paid only 21$ since I personally feel its worth only that much if not less.

Have you tried any Anna Sui products lately?

Until next time…ciao!!

Lavender and Hunter green ~ Spring theme eyes!

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a great Easter weekend! The Easter weekend finally bought me into Spring mode! I played around with a cream shadow from the brand Face Stockholm and a lovely hunter green eyeshadow from Paul and Joe beaute.

Playing with Lavender and Green shadows!

This is an extremely easy look! All I did was apply the green powder shadow to the crease and the lavender cream shadow all over the lid. I blended the green from the crease onto the the outer corner of the eye as well. The result is an easy 2 shadow look! 🙂

Here are the products I’ve used to achieve this eye look:

1. FACE Stockholm Kramogonskugga (cream shadow) in the shade Chintz ( Reviewed HERE)

2. Paul and Joe Beaute self select eye color in No.22 (Review coming soon!)

The stars of the show

Have a great week everyone!!

Until next time..ciao!!