Tom Ford Private Label Lipstick in Vanilla Suede

Tom Ford Private Label Lipstick in Vanilla Suede

Tom Ford is an American designer most well known for his sophisticated red carpet tuxedos. Tom Ford embodies sexy masculinity that is universally appealing which is most notable in his line of fragrances that are all (but one) unisex (several tend to identify more feminine or masculine). The designer's departure into lipstick has been well received and he has since won Allure awards for best luxury lipstick . See full article HERE. 

Now I am a lipstick junkie and since I finally received a couple of my paychecks, I decided to splurge just a little bit and head over to Bergdof Goodman, one of the few places in the city where you can play around with the colors before you purchase. Let me do a quick rave about the Bergdof beauty department... never before have you seen so much luxury at once. At Berfdof Goodman, the "low-end" makeup counters include Lancome and Este Lauder while the highest end cosmetic counters include Tom Ford, Guerlain, and Claude de Pau Beaute. I love the selection, quality, and knowledge of the beauty advisors. I could have long conversations at every single counter and I practically did at Tom Ford yesterday so much so that we exchanged business cards to keep in touch.

But back to the Lipstick.

For dramatic effect!

The range comes in 12 shades: 4 nudes, 4 brights, and 4 reds. I, being obsessed with what I call corpusy-nudes (because they are so pale they make you look dead), gravitated to the lightest shade Vanilla Suede. This shade is a very shimmery pale nude with a hint of peach. I tend to own more matte or satin finish nudes so this is my first with a shimmer. 

Formulated with rare and exotic ingredients including soja seed extract, Brazilian murumuru butter and chamomilla flower oil, the luxurious formula has an ultra-creamy texture for an incredibly smooth application. Specially treated color pigments are blended to deliver pure color with just the right balance of luminosity. 

Side note: You can feel the shimmer in the formula when on your lips but its not annoying. What IS slightly annoying is how expensive this lipstick is, but I knew that going into it that it would set me back $50 after tax! The lipstick itself retails for $45 which is just slightly less expensive than the Guerlain Rouge G series (the one with the mirror). 

I can say that Tom Ford put all the expenses in the packaging at it is done beautifully. It is, to me the best looking lipstick on the market with its gold hefty case and while enamel panels. Its so heavy that you could use it easily as a weapon if it came to that! 

Overview: The product is lovely but the real wow-factor is in the packaging. At $45 a pop, choose the color you will wear most often and relish in the joy of applying. 

If you get a chance, stop by Bergdof Goodman and take a look at the range of Tom Ford lipsticks. PSSST! Come September Tom Ford will be launching a complete cosmetic range so look out for that too.  

Packaging

Vanilla Suede with a smokey eye look

XOXO

Kelsey, College Cosmetic/Intern/Makeup Junkie/Increasingly broke college student especially after this purchase lol

Great Lash Big Review

Maybe she's born with it... Maybe its Maybelline Great Lash Big Mascara!

Great Lash Big is the second of the 6 mascaras that I will be reviewing from the beauty closet. Great Lash Big has the same formula as the original however the brush is super sized! Take a look at the difference on this baby. I guess I am so used to jumbo volumizing brushes already that I did not realize how big it was until I compared it to the original.

It must be 3 times the size!

This product is supposed to give wearable volume and act as a stepping stone into volumizing mascaras for those that have been great lash users for years. I think it is also an attempt to bring more relevance to the Great Lash brand by keeping it current and new.... which is actually pretty smart when you think about it.

The formula is super gentile which I always liked about Great Lash. I got a bunch in my eye while applying it and it did not sting at all. A con about this formula however is that it is very wet and takes a long time to dry. Because of this, I ended up with lots of black dots all over my lower lashes and on my brow bone.... NOT Cute... but not the end of the world. 

What turned me off about this product at the end of the day is that as I sweat to death shoveling dirt in Brooklyn (more on that later) it left me with black raccoon eyes. 

• Length 7/10
• Volume 8/10
• Curl Hold 7/10
• Flake-Resistant 6/10
• Wow-Factor 7/10
• Overall Score  70/100

C

The Original Great Lash does not give volume so I was skeptical that changing the brush would make that big of a difference. I expected less from this mascara and it delivered way beyond my expectations although I can't say that I prefer it to any of the other mascaras I've tried this week. 

With Great Lash Big

Before

With Great Lash Big

With Great Lash Big

XOXO 

Kelsey 

Falsies by Maybelline Mascara Review

Maybelline Falsies Mascara Review

Maybe she's born with it... Maybe its Maybelline Falsies Mascara!

Falsies is the first of the 6 mascaras that I will be reviewing from the beauty closet. So many people in the office rave about how much they love falsies and how it is the best so I had high hopes for this mega volume booster from the beginning. 

Interesting Fact: Falsies is #1 among fiery Latinas 

The product is in the Volume Express line and is supposed to give that false lash effect. Its special secret is its scooped brush that allows you to start at the roots and work up the lashes for a beautiful full flared effect. 

One thing I noticed that was strange was how quickly it dried. This is a pro because you do not have to worry about wet lash marks on your eyelids but a con because the faster it dries, the less time you have to build it up. Moral of the review? Work QUICKLY!

• Length 8/10
• Volume 8/10
• Curl Hold 9/10
• Flake-Resistant 9/10
• Wow-Factor 8/10
• Overall Score  92/100

A-

Although I loved the effect of this mascara, Doreen-the lash goddess, did not complement my lashes today meaning that they were not dramatic enough to catch her attention which lost it points on wow-factor. 

Before

After
Lashes with Maybelline Falsies

Before

After
Lashes with Maybelline Falsies 

Into the Beauty Closet

Today was a very important first for me at Maybelline. Today was the day I entered the BEAUTY CLOSET! Now this day has been a long day coming considering I am in my 4th week of the internship and I still find myself day-dreaming of what it is like in a room filled with free cosmetics and nail polish. Let me say I am so thrilled that it was how I imagined it to be (minus the chandelier and beautiful lighting). There were shelving units stacked up to the ceiling of Essie nail polish and bins full of various Maybelline cosmetics.

I was not able to take home tons but I was able to grab an assortment of mascaras. Over the next few days I will be testing the following:

• Great Lash (Original)
• Great Lash Big
• Colossal 
• Falsies
• Falsies Black Drama Waterproof 
• XXL Pro

The mascaras will be rated on length, volume, clump-aversion, longevity, and overall dramatic effect.

Yay! I am so excited. I always loved the XXL but I have not tried the XXL Pro so thats the one I most look forward to using. Everyone at works raves about Falsies so that will be second up on my list of reviews.

XOXO
Kelsey

What Makeup Made the Cut to Come to NYC!

This is sort of old because I've clearly been in the city for a couple of weeks now but I had it filmed so I edited it this afternoon and posted it today.

Enjoy!

XOXO

Kelsey

Black Eyed Peas Concert Update

It totally got rained out!

I was so excited to go and I hauled my butt from Brooklyn to the Upper West Side. The lines were SO long but we followed directions and kept on the sidewalk. Finally we made it through the first security check point and things got moving. About 30 minutes later we are still following the pack of thousands of people to a second security check point. About 1 block later (in central park) every one starts turing around and leaving. The concert was canceled!!

I guess I can't be too mad because it was a free ticket....

Well I certainly did not have "the time of my life" lol it was still a good memory and one to laugh at

XOXO
Kelsey

Black Eyed Peas Tonight!

Oh My Gosh so this is the first blog that I have written in DAYS which I feel kinda bad about but I haven't been home (and my home I mean the dorms) before 11 any day this week and I love me some beauty sleep when my alarm goes off at 5:45 AM. No so fun...

Today was lots of fun though!

All the summer interns are finally here and all Maybelline lip/eye team went out for lunch at Bryant Park which is where they used to have fashion shows during fashion week and where project runway always had their finale.

And in 15 minutes I am leaving to go see the Black Eyed Peas in central park! Yay! I really love their old stuff and I have them on in the back ground to get pumped because I sort of don't know all of their new music.... Of course dirty bit and can't get enough so hopefully they play those... But i wouldn't mind some old school I gotta feelin! ahaha

I'll let you know how it goes! Should be awesome!

Kelsey

Removing Makeup

Last night I committed a cardinal beauty sin.... I slept in my makeup! I felt so guilty when I woke up because my skin has been so good lately and I don't want my slip ups to cause it to go back to its previous pimpley state. The first thing I did after I opened my eyes was head to the bathroom and take it off!


Here are my tips and tricks to removing makeup- its more than just using a face wash...

1. Use an oil based eye makeup remover on an exfoliating cotton round. 

The oil based makeup remover is the way to go no matter what your skin type because you are about to wash your face right after so the oil will not be clogging your pores and also, it works loads better than the oil free varieties. I love the Lancome Bi-Facil remover. Remember to shake it before you use it to mix in the oil with the remover!

The exfoliating cotton round also makes a difference. I got mine at Walgreens and They work so well because one side is textured with little dots like a basketball and the other is smooth. The textured side is great for scrubbing the face (cheeks, forehead, nose) and the smooth side is perfect for delicate eye areas.

      2. Cleanse face with a daily cleansing soap. 

I love the Clinique Liquid Facial Soap which is part of their 3-step system. I just ran out today when I was washing off yesterday's makeup! Now I will be giving Kheils a try. I'll keep you posted on how it works.  

My tip for washing your face is to use cold water to rinse it off and then pat your skin dry with a towel instead of rubbing because the skin on your face is really gentile and you do not want to make it red and wrinkly... 

    3. Use a toner on a cotton round (smooth side) all over the face. 

I have been using the toner in the same 3-step system by clinique. The pump on this product is really nice and it does not burn like some toners do.

    4. The last step is to moisturize 

Yes yes.... I know... another clinique product.... but seriously. My skin has never been as good as it is right now and I have been using this system for 6 months now. This is the dramatically different moisturizing gel and I use this all over my face. Around my eyes I use a heavier anti-aging cream from Lancome. Don't forget to moisturize those lips! Use a heavy balm to sleep in or let it sink in for 15 minutes before putting on lipstick. 

And Ta-Da! beautiful clean skin! 

XOXO

Kelsey, the College Cosmetic 

Color Theory Class: Why Online Swatches Never Match

Have you ever wondered why a swatch on a website will be totally different from what the product looks like when you actually get it home...*cough*MAC...? Well it turns out that its a lot harder to get those colors to match up than you think. 

L'Oreal has this online classroom where all employees can take extra classes for free! The classes range from computer knowledge, leadership, languages, to beauty skills. Yesterday I took a quick class on color theory. It walked me through how the eye perceives color and why some colors look different with different lighting. For example, A tree's leaves at mid-day will look more vibrant than at dusk because the angle and amount of light reflecting off of the leaves is more intense when the sun is the brightest. 

But back to how it relates to online swatches...

Everyone is taught the standard color wheel with Red, Yellow, and Blue as the primary colors; but these are only the primary colors when working with things we see visually-real life objects. Online images have a totally different color wheel and different primary colors. It gets more complicated when talking about print, which has a third totally different color wheel and primary colors. 

So you can imagine how difficult it is to perfectly match a shade of lipstick from the actual product, to the printed sticker on the bottom, to the swatch you see online.... because they all use different color wheels.

Also, a color combination that looks great on print may not translate to the web or real life objects because again... they all use a different color wheels! Companies spend thousands of dollars getting colors to match up on ad campaigns. Who knew?! 

I'm off to take a french lesson from home. I guess I'm missing being in school a little...

XOXO

Kelsey, the college cosmetic