As we head into July, we’re in the full-blown throws of summer! That means heat, humidity, haze with a touch of afternoon showers that can either bring the humidity down or keep it lingering.
Ummm hmmmm. I beat the heat with a dunk in a pool or the ocean…and I wear my fake hair doing it!
And summer is that time of lightening it up a bit. Lighter clothing. Lighter hair (whether fake or made golden by the sun or a bottle). Lighter makeup which I touched upon in my “There’s a Summer Face” blog post.
Yup! With my lighter fake hair there’s no need for “Sun In”!
Fact is, I’m rather enjoying going almost barefaced. With the few Saturdays we’ve spent at the beach, my skin as gotten was I call the “Irish Tan”. Red-to-almost-tan and tons of freckles!
My Irish Tan. Not quite tan but not too red. And Freckles!
The foundation has been put away until the Fall. The exception being Oona’s wedding in less than a month. Blush? Not really! Contour? Nope!
Heading into the deep summer it’s eyes only. With a swipe of lip gloss or lipstick.
And here’s the thing. I’ve rediscovered cream eye shadow! Do you remember cream eyeshadow of decades past?
The sticks by Max Factor that practically broke if you applied with too heavy a hand and the ever-popular Yardley of London Pot O’Shadows that were whipped cream for the eyes. Both looked great the first hour but after that initial 60 minutes, the shadows took on a life of their own by creasing and melting and falling victim to nature’s and your skin’s oily elements!
That stackable eye shadow stick. My mother had it and I thought it was so cool but the shadows wore off so quickly!
And the mother of them all Yardley Pot O’Shadows. Just for nostalgic reasons, I wish Yardley of London cosmetics was still around. I would buy everything!
Okay. So they aren’t creams but do you remember this kit? A forerunner to today’s palettes? I had this. It was all you needed!! Too bad the shadows weren’t neutrals!
I had all but forgotten about cream shadows until I happened to come across a YouTube video about Laura Mercier’s Caviar Sticks. I was drawn. I was intrigued. And oh-so-interested.
So interested, in fact, that I had to beg, bother, whine, ask the keeper of the credit cards, Bonaparte, if, perhaps I could use a card to purchase some Laura Mercier Cosmetics.
Yes. It’s true. When I want to spend, Bonaparte makes a quick exit and races away from me!
Okay, let me backtrack a bit. The Frenchman now has control of all the plastic spending instruments in the home. It’s either a cash purchase or, in very rare instances, online purchases.
When he sees I’ve been spending he’s about as happy as his French peers when they dance!
I swear to you what I’m writing is the truth. I mentioned that I wanted to purchase the Laura Mercier Caviar Stick cream shadows. Only two of them, mind you, simply because they ain’t cheap! At $29 per stick, they are pricey. My trusting and loving husband inquired why I couldn’t just go to the mall and buy them. Then I had to go into a long-winded explanation of how none of the luxury stores at King of Prussia mall carried the shades I wanted.
He caved in and I ordered two sticks plus a lip gloss.
The good stuff has arrived!
My shadows, a lip gloss, a sample shadow and a sample of powder! And the samples are generous!
What I loved was that I received a very generous sample of one of the shadows I was thinking of purchasing.
I actually received TWO powder samples. I’ll tell you I was giddy!
But lets’ get to the sticks, shall we?
I ordered Cobblestone, a true taupe and Intense Amethyst a gray/taupe/purple stick. The sample sent was Au Natural.
Cobblestone on the left, a gorgeous taupe and Intense Amethyst on the right. A steel/taupe/violet. Very pretty!
And this sample! OMG it is probably the best sample (along with the bareMinerals VIP lipstick) that I’ve ever received. There’s nothing like a generous sample! This shade is Au Natural!
Here’s a photo of the swatches on the inside of my wrist. And I have to say, that these shadows do NOT go anywhere. When I went to wipe the swatches off, nothing moved. Then I took a paper towel with water. Nothing moved. Finally, when I used soap and water, they washed off.
From the bottom up, Au Natural; Cobblestone; Intense Amethyst. I’m telling you, it was difficult to wash these swatches off–and that’s a great thing!
Another plus is that there’s a bit of a satin/glowy finish to give the shadows more depth. They aren’t over-the-top shimmery…just very subtle. And the shades are beautifully neutral.
I do see more of these in my future..but don’t tell Bonaparte!
And as much as I love my eyeshadow palettes, I’m becoming more and more fond of these cream sticks for the summer.
A perfect example of how well they blend! I’ve been wearing all three sticks the past couple of weeks!
Now. They don’t glide on the eye the way those whipped cream shadows do and the sticks aren’t as “creamy” as sticks of the past. The sticks are denser.
I went with a heavier hand and a bit of shimmer on the lids this past Saturday when The Frenchman and I went out to dinner! And the glow is real–we were at the beach all day!
Application? Since these shadows really stay put, you need to work fast in blending. I take a synthetic eyeshadow brush and blend to the desired finish. That’s it. Done.
I’m wearing Au Natural on the lids and blend it with either a synthetic brush or my fingers!
And the shades last all day. LIT. UH.RUH.LEE all day!
About that price…. I love me a great discount on makeup. But every now and then, a product will come along and I’ll shell out my The Frenchman’s money for a good cause—Me! And why not? We need to treat ourselves!
Seriously. I give these shadows a very-well deserved A+! They are beautiful and do the job!!
Going almost bare-faced this summer has me thinking. Do you remember when we were all younger? Our teen years? We didn’t wear the amount of makeup that young women wear today. It was a more natural look. We didn’t glop the face makeup on our faces. We had no idea what contour or bronzer was!
My favorite model of the 1970’s–Patti Hansen. Look how natural. Freckles and all. And she went on to marry Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones! We need to get back to this natural look!
Nobody filled in their lips. Nor did we pencil in our brows to look like railroad cabooses.
The only highlighter we had was sweat and it looked marvelous.
Don’t get me wrong. I love makeup but I’m starting to think that less is more. What’s your opinion? I’ve been posting pics on my Instagram account of me in less makeup but I don’t think it’ll be a growing trend!
I’m wearing the Cobblestone and Au Natural Caviar Sticks. Just a touch! And my Finn wig by Estetica Designs! Keep it natural–even with fake hair!!!
What’s your opinion? Are you going barefaced this summer and saving the heavy stuff for the cooler weather?