The Musings of a Working Mom

I know that Nars products are on the pricey side but the quality of their products are hands down worth every penny.  Not only are their products very pigmented (thus you don't need to use a lot and therefore it will last you a very long time) but the products don't fade or disappear throughout the day.  I really feel that you get great quality products for the price you pay for with Nars products.   One of the products I recently decided to splurge on was this Cordura Eyeshadow duo.   I have found myself reaching for this duo for a quick and easy eye look.  I place the lighter shade (on the left) on my lid and blend it out with a matte light brown (like Mac Soft Brown or Urban Decay Buff or Tease).  I then place the darker shade (on the right) on the outer corner and down onto my lash line and blend/smudge it out.  Add a highlight eyeshadow (like Mac Vanilla or Urban Decay Virgin), line your upper lash line with a liner or shadow, and a couple ...

I mentioned this eyeshadow in my favorites post last month...I absolutely love this eyeshadow.   Nars Mekong  is a  dark, deep "espresso" brown color with slight (micro) gold glitter in it.  I must note that the glitter doesn't really translate on your lid unless you use it wet - then you might see a little sparkle to it but otherwise, it's a dark brownish-black color.   I really prefer using this shadow as my liner on my top and bottom lashes.  I'm horrible at using a liquid liner on my top lid and my black gel liner has dried up so I have been reaching for this everyday as my liner.  It's a great alternative to black which can be a harsh color (especially as you get older) - this dark brown shadow gives the same definition but with softer edge.  I love how this shadow gives my eyes a defined lash line and by using  a small pencil brush (like my Sigma E30)  or my Essence of Beauty small pencil brush to smudge the shadow, ...

Well my beloved MUFE Smokey Lash Mascara finally bit the big one....and it was time for me to look into my mascara stash and see which one I wanted to test out next.  Well the packaging on the Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes! Mascara caught my eye and I now have a new favorite mascara. Photo: www.tartecosmetics.com The formula is kind of wet which I'm not normally a big fan of but I love the results that I get from this mascara.  This mascara gives me so much length, thickness, and volume - I get the dramatic results that I love.  Because of the "wet" nature of the formula, I do find that I have to follow-up with my fav CoverGirl Lash Blast to separate the clumps of lashes but the formulation of the Lash Blast combined with with Tarte mascara leaves me with lashes that look like I have on falsies.  I get dramatic results just after one coat of both the Tarte and CoverGirl mascara.  The end result is long, thick and dark lashes!  This mascara la...

The one makeup item that I surely don't need anymore of are eye shadows!  I have so many eye shadows that I will never even get close to using them all up in this lifetime or perhaps even the next.  So I have reminded myself over and over again - 1) do NOT buy any new shadows, 2) you probably have that color or something close to it, and 3) you just don't need it!!  Well I lost that battle when I was recently in Ulta buying some makeup as a gift to a makeup newbie...and I stumbled upon this Smashbox Shades of Fame eyeshadow palette!  OMG I instantly fell in love with all of the colors in this palette.  But I told myself that I probably have these colors...but not all together in one palette!  This is a great palette to travel with, despite the fact that it doesn't have a black eyeshadow in it, this palette has all the colors you could possibly need to create both neutral, daytime looks as well as sultry, colorful looks for evening.  Th...

What is up with all the hype about the Guerlain Meteorites Illuminating Perles?  What do these colorful balls do to your face that is so amazing that women are paying $58 for this product?  Well for me, this little tin brings back so many "makeup" memories for me from my childhood.  I can't remember if my mom owned one of these tins of magic balls or if it was someone close to me that owned this product but I remember the little colorful balls, the fragrant lavender scent that emanated from the package....this is such a nostalgic product for me.  I have been eyeing this product for such a long time but really didn't give into buying it until one day I decided that I wanted to find out for myself what all the hype for the product was all about and why I was so drawn to this product.  It wasn't until I received this product and I opened it up when all of the memories came flowing back to me.  There are three "Harmonies" - Teint Rose 01, Teint Beig...

I have been so frustrated with my hair for so long now.  I have long, curly, thick hair that has the tendency to be dry and frizzy.  I end up using SOOOO many products just to tame the frizz and hold my curls together.  And that's just when I want to wear my hair curly.  When I want to wear my hair straight, my hair is exposed to lots of heat from the hair dryer as well as the flat iron.  I try to use products to help strengthen and protect my hair from the heat but I still have dry, frizzy hair.  So what can I do to help my hair look healthy again??? Well....I'm sure that you have all seen the infomercials on the WEN Hair Care System by Chaz Dean and you are asking yourself "What is WEN"?  WEN is a cleansing conditioner for your hair that both cleanses and conditions your hair in one single step- this product is really an all-in-one product.  The cleansing conditioner acts as your shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner, detangler and...

TARTE SMOOTH OPERATOR AMAZONIAN CLAY WATERPROOF CONCEALER (Sephora, 0.07 oz., $22.00) Now I know that I'm a makeup addict - I just can't seem to be satisfied with any product even if I think that I've found my HG product!! Well, here we go again with yet another concealer... I purchased this concealer in the color Medium (which by the way is one of the more popular shades as every time I went to Sephora and looked at this product, Medium was always sold out).  The formulation of this product is very creamy and easy to blend with your fingers or with a blending brush.  The coverage is medium to full coverage and I didn't notice a lot of creasing over the course of the day.  I absolutely love the workability of this concealer - easy to apply, easy to blend, and long wearing.  Sephora carries this concealer in 4 shades - Fair, Medium, Tan and Deep.  According to the write up on the Sephora site, "this waterproof, full-cov...

DESSIN DU REGARD WATERPROOF - Long-Lasting Waterproof Eye Pencil ( Sephora, $28.00 ) I am always on the hunt for a great waterproof eyeliner to wear in my waterline especially because I have very watery eyes and most eyeliners never stay put (even if they are waterproof).  Now ordinarily, I would never pay $28 for an eyeliner but since I had read sooo many great reviews on this one and how long lasting it was on the waterline, I had to try it out for myself!  Not to mention that I did wait to get this during a Sephora Friends and Family sale so I didn't quite pay full price for it.  I ended up ordering this in 02 Patent Leather (deep brown) and not black because black was sold out at Sephora both online and in the store.  But the brown is very dark and looks like a blackened brown which I really do like. Well...the results are in and bleh - it's nothing to write home about!  I'm sorry but maybe I just have extremely watery eyes ...

I admit it, I have been over-plucking my eyebrows for more than 15 years now and the result is that I have sparse and overly skinny brows.  I hate it and no matter how much I try to get them to grow back in, they just won't - the damage has been done.  But thank goodness for makeup!!  I have been filling in my eyebrows for about 10 years now, mostly with an eyeshadow.  I just prefer shadows to pencils as I find them to look more natural and not too "drawn in" looking.  I started out with an Elizabeth Arden "brow" shadow and then I found MAC Espresso eyeshadow works just as well.  I wanted to soften the color a bit so I switched to MAC Charcoal Brown which looked softer and more natural than Espresso.  I have also tried the Anastasia Brow Kit  which comes with 5 different eyebrow stencils, a wax, 2 shades of shadow, a highlighter and a matte eyeshadow.  This kit is nice and makes filling in your brows as easy as it can be - pl...

Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation  - 1 oz., $34, sephora.com I know - not another foundation review!  I have a problem, yes I know it but I am obsessed with finding the perfect foundation, and concealer, and longest lasting kohl eyeliner and well...you get it.  And until then, I have to continue testing out new foundations until I am completely satisfied - which won't ever happen so I guess that I'll have to keep on with my search.  So...I purchased this foundation last year sometime in August/September during Sephora's Friends and Family sale.  I have always been intrigued by this British makeup line but felt that it was a bit out of my price range but I would be willing to purchase some of the products through a sale.  I ended up purchasing this foundation along with 2 lip glosses.  And I have to say that I really like this line...but again I'm going to have to wait until another sale to pick up some more of their items.  ...

Ever since I had my twins (and now with my 15 month old), I have been on the hunt for the best, most miraculous undereye concealer.  I have some massive bags under my eyes along with the darkness that comes from a lack of sleep and/or interrupted sleep (that and the fact that I'm East Indian and apparently it is prevalent in East Indian's - GREAT!).  Anywho...I'm not sure when I'll get enough sleep to get rid of my undereye circles but until that happens, I will need to find an awesome undereye concealer to hide these puppies.  I have tried many, many different concealers from drugstore brands to high end, department store brands.  Some look ashy and cakey under my eyes, while some do conceal but by midday, it has migrated into my fine lines under my eyes and I have to touch it up throughout the day.  Here are the concealers I have tried so far: - MAC Select Moisturecover - it's ok; very  moisturizing, decent coverage - MAC Select...

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Full Coverage Foundation with Brush  - 1.7 fl oz, $38.00 So I have been eyeing this foundation for quite some time now but the only thing was that it was only available through QVC and every time that I checked their site, my color was on waitlist.  While at Sephora recently, I spoke with one of the MUA regarding this foundation and all of the rave reviews that it got and she gave me some "insider information" - she told me that Sephora and Tarte were in the process of phasing out their current lines of foundations they had at Sephora and they were going to replace it with this Full Coverage Foundation some time in the next few months. Well again I checked the QVC site and again my color was on waitlist and then checked the Sephora site and saw that this much coveted foundation is now available but online only.  So I quickly picked my color and placed my order.  This foundation is amazeballs!  I...

    DiorSkin Forever Flawless Perfection Fusion Wear Foundation                - $46.00 for 1.0 fl. oz  Even though it seems like I had found my HG Foundation, I am always on the hunt for a new HG foundation (better price, better coverage, etc).  While on a trip to CA visiting my sister-in-law we went to Nordstom in Santa Monica and the Dior MUA color-matched me in the newest formulation of the Dior Flawless Perfection foundation in Sand 031.  For reference, I have combination to oily skin, especially in my T-zone and am a MAC NC 30/Chanel 40 Beige/MUFE 128.  The Dior MUA told me to use just a little bit of foundation and that a little will go a long way.  And boy was she right! This foundation provides medium coverage and can be built up to full coverage or sheered out for lighter coverage.  It has a satin finish that looks quite natural...