1 ) Dermalogica – Skin Hydrating Booster and Solar Defense Booster

Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Booster and Solar Defense Booster

Great makeup on wonky skin is no good. Be sure to give your skin the extra hydration and sun protection it needs to stay glowy and not turned baked on you. If you’ve read the blog, you know I’m a huge fan of Dermalogica skincare. Amongst their more ingenious products are their Boosters, which are specialty elixirs that you can add to ‘boost’ other products. For the summertime, the Hydration Boost and the Solar Boost are the champs. I add the Solar boost to foundations or moisturizers I love that either do not have or have a low SPF to make them summer sun ready. The Hydration Boost adds a serious jolt of moisture to any skincare product without adding oil or making the skin feel greasy. Mix a dab of the Hydration boost and a dab of the Solar boost with a dab of your favorite foundation and voila! You have a perfect tinted moisturizer.

2 ) Jergens – Natural Glow Healthy Complexion Facial Moisturizer and
Revitalizing Daily Moisturizer

Jergens Natural Glow Revitalizing Daily Moisturizer

Keep your tan going and your skin healthy with these fab self-tanning products. To be one of the least expensive self-tanners on the market, I’ve found the Jergens Natural Glow line to be amongst the best. It develops naturally into a realistic color and lasts a good long time. This is a staple for me during summer photo shoots, I’ll ask the models to dose up on it prior to a shoot for a realistic tan that I can enhance with Bronzer.

3 ) Smashbox – Halo Hydrating Perfecting Bronzer Powder

Smashbox Halo Hydrating Perfecting Bronzer

Not only does the Halo bronzer impart bronz-y, glow-y fabulousness – it’s packed with minerals and hydrating ingredients to keep your skin healthy as well. It comes in one flattering for all shade that’s not too shimmery, not too dark and not at all orange-y. Don’t let the fact that it’s marketed as an anti-aging product sway you away from trying it because this really is a great bronzer, I’ve been using it on all of my photo-shoots this summer. Besides – Treat your skin well at a younger age, and you won’t need as many anti-aging products later.

4 ) Nars – Multiple Tint

Nars Multiples Tints

I’m sure I have talked about these before, but it’s worth talking about again. Nars introduced a new Multiples product, the Multiples Tint, which is a bright but sheer cheek and lip tint. They come in a pink shade, a fuchsia-y shade and an orange shade – Turks and Cacaos – which is my favorite of the three. They can be worn alone, worn together, or worn with other products and they are pretty and last a good while. These are amongst my favorite new Spring/Summer products of this year, for sure, but they are a Limited Edition Collection. Don’t be left out!

5 ) Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics – Summer 2010 Lip Tars

OCC Cosmetics Lip Tars in Cha Cha and Divine

After a few false starts and difficulty finding a usage groove, I’ve fallen back in love with the Lip Tars hard. Every season the fine folks at OCC introduce new colors and I love the Summer 2010 colors, ‘Cha Cha’ and ‘Divine’ (Divine is aptly described as Pink Flamingo in color. Nice one, David. ). What I love about the Lip Tars is they can be worn as a subtle pop of color or you can layer it on for va-va-va-voom COLOR!

6 ) Stila – Summer Glow Set

Stila Summer Glow Set

The Fab: Smashbox - Smokebox eye shadow palette

The Fab – Smashbox Eyelights in “Smokebox” – If you’ve been waiting for a sure fire smokey eye kit, this is it. There are others on the market, this is the best I’ve found. The Smokebox is not too dark or too light in color, it’s evenly pigmented and goes on smoothly, it isn’t too shimmery, but it has enough shimmer to be more wearable and not look too 80’s matte, it wears well and it works with a variety of skin tones (and there are also 3 other Eyelight palettes if the Smokebox doesn’t suit you). Makeup artist heaven! It has not left my kit since it was first sent to me and I will be buying a couple of more to have on standby for when the one I’m using runs out.

The Fair – OCC Lip Tars – Yes I know I raved on and on about these when I first got them and when the new colors came out. That’s the point of the Road Testing series is to talk about what a product is like once it gets some real use. OCC Lip Tars are wonderfully pigmented, in gorgeous colors and I love how they dry to a semi-matte finish. That’s all great and true. Where they fell into the “Fair” column is that their wear is erratic. Both when I used it for a photo-shoot, and when a friend tried to wear a tube that I’d given her, the product slid. Sliding isn’t the same as wearing off… sliding is it visibly slid off the lips. In my friend’s case she was wearing “Melange” which is a neutral pink color and I was working with a combo of “NSFW” and “Traffic” to make a super potent orange color. So it wasn’t just one color acting up. The one constant in both of our experiences, however, is that we were both using the products in the height of Los Angeles summer heat. And we did have some serious heatwaves this summer. None-the-less, a lip product that slides off is non-idyllic so I’ve slowed down my usage, particularly since – as the Lip Tars are so heavily pigmented – as it slid it left behind a stain so it was hard to completely clean off of the model’s lips and reapply cleanly. Alas, it just didn’t perform to my expectations. I’d still recommend them if you are not in a hot climate area. I know artists all over the country who are absolutely fanatical about the Lip Tars and use them religiously. I am also open to the possibility that I used the product incorrectly so if anyone has any usage tips – particularly for hot weather – by all means let me know.

The Faulty – NYX Cosmetics Eyeshadows – NYX is a drugstore brand that aims to bring fashion forward makeup to the mass market. The packaging and product are clearly reminiscent of the populist pro makeup brand that most consumers know and love (you should know what brand I’m referring to, here). However, there’s more to those high-pigment eyeshadows than colors and packaging. The Name brand I’m referring to is already well known for having eyeshadows that aren’t creamy and aren’t easy to blend (gotta work ‘em a little). I’m afraid the NYX Cosmetics eyeshadows are much worse. First of all, they really aren’t pigmented well… they colors look like they’ll go on potent and bright but they don’t, even when applied damp. Secondly, they smear, cake, grip and do not blend. No good. The eyeshadow palettes are $8-$9 and the individual colors are $5-$6.50. Single shadows from the name brand is $11, and if you’re eligible you can get a healthy discount via the Pro Artists program. Make Up For Ever – another pro brand who I will mention by name, and who is also known for making bright, vibrant colors – sells their eyeshadows for $19 retail and qualified artists can also get a discount on that line as well. Basically as the saying goes “You Get What You Pay For”. (I will say, however, that I do like NYX’s blushes – both powder and cream. So just because one item in a line doesn’t work, it doesn’t necessarily mean the whole line is bad…).

Technorati Tags: makeup, makeup to go, nyx, obsessive compulsive cosmetics, occ, smashbox

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