Author Archives: netnoise

Tory Burch Eye Shadow Palettes

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Guys. Tory Burch is expanding her beauty line. (Cue happy dancing, squeals of excitement, tears of joy, or all of the above. Seriously, don’t make me do it by myself.) I have to say, I love it when designers branch into makeup. Not only is the quality of their products usually pretty high but the packaging is always to die for. I mean, Marc Jacobs? Gucci? Dior? All stunning. Burch already has perfume, lipstick, and a couple of cheek products in her line, but she’s adding three new eyeshadow palettes for Spring 2015. And while her other products feature that (gorgeous) signature orange-and-gold packaging, the eyeshadow palettes have a slightly different vibe. Instead of the gilded effect, the coveted designer has enrobed her shadows in vintage-book inspired compacts.

Each palette comes with six original shades in a long-wearing formula, a dual-ended brush, and a how-to sheet that includes instructions on how to achieve two different looks. And as for the colors themselves? A neutral lover’s dream. Each palette is at least half-full of easy-to-wear shades of brown. But if you are trying to branch out into color (or just enjoy incorporating some in your mostly-natural eye looks), two of the three have purples and blues that will easily compliment your neutral eye. Let’s take a look.

Pas Du Tout

Colors include: Gamine (matte natural ivory), Menagerie (copper pink), Beau (golden violet), Paillette (metallic bronze), Jolie Laide (shimmering dark chocolate brown), and Au Contraire (matte black)

Cat’s Meow

Colors include: Hint (luminous tan camel), Smoking Slipper (golden espresso brown), Midnight (deep navy), Tawny (radiant taupe), Stone Cold (shimmering gray carbon), and Magpie (iridescent blue-violet). 

Catch

Colors include: Wild Card (golden aubergine), Folly (matte rust brown), Blushing (luminous pale nude pink), Little Bit (shimmering pale peachy pink), Morning Glory (iridescent lavender), and Evil Eye (matte vibrant blue)

Each palette retails for $60, and is available for pre-order on toryburch.com. Catch and Pas Du Tout are currently available on nordstrom.com.

Easy on the [Summer] Eyes

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Summer is (almost) here! Hooray! This year, in lieu of spending ALL our time consuming strawberry margaritas & BBQ’d hot dogs, we’ll be obsessing over summer beauty staples. Oh, who are we kidding? We’ll be doing all three.

Luckily, this eye look is fabulous for ALL your fave summer activities (see above). It’s that great base makeup you’ll come to know & love (who wants to like a prima donna at the beach, anyway?).

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Here’s how to get this understated-stunning summer look in 7 easy steps!

1. Start with high brow at the very edge of your brow line. This will instantly lift your eye with its perfect, natural pink hues.

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2. Apply stay don’t stray onto your eyelid—BBQs mean sun, which means sweat, which means slip—there will be none of that! Stay don’t stray has your back.

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3. For your base shadow, start with our creaseless cream in my two cents—apply over your eyelid.

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4. Next, take our long-wear powder shadow in kiss me, i’m tipsy—apply into the crease of your eye.

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5. Then, in the outer corner of your eyes, apply our matte espresso long-wear shadow, quick! look busy. This will add the perfect smokey touch without getting too over-dramatic. Nobody likes a drama queen, trust.

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6. Don’t forget about your #BeneBrows! Using short pressing motions, stroke gimme brow—our volumizing brow fiber-gel—along brow to define shape. Comb through to blend & build brows.

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7. Finish your look with our NEW first ever lash-hugging gel liner pen, they’re real! push-up liner. Add a few coasts of they’re real mascara for big, sexy eyes in an instant!

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Voilá! What’s your go-to summer eye look? Tell us in the comments below!

 

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Bobbi Brown Instant Pretty Palette

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Bobbi Brown Perfectly Pretty

Another great pick-up from World Duty Free (wishing I was a frequent flyer now!) is the Bobbi Brown Instant Pretty Palette. It’s just a very simple little palette that covers understated to smoky and exactly the right shade blush to bring your complexion to life. It’s a well named palette because Perfectly Pretty is exactly what it is. It’s not going to knock anybody’s socks off because it’s very neutral, but I can see this being a useful handbag palette if you like nude and natural looks. It’s the kind of palette I would take on holiday when I want a make-up break! I wear far less make-up when I’m away because when you’re trying stuff out every single day, it really is a relief to downscale and take a beauty holiday. The Bobbi Brown Instant Pretty Palette is a travel exclusive and it’s £33.45. Shades in the palette are Bone, Beige, Pink Quartz (metallic) and Chocolate, with Nectar Blush. ; ;

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Louise Young Super Concealer Trio

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Louise Young Super Concealer Trio Review and SwatchesLouise Young Super Concealer Trio Review and Swatches

After trying my very first Louise Young brush; the Louise Young LY24A Superfine Liner Brush, I’ve been dying to try some of their makeup products, especially their Super Concealer Trio after reading a few rave reviews. The Louise Young Super Concealer Trio is available in four shade variations, and I have the lightest trio; Fair. The concealers are housed within a brown, matte plastic palette which is nice and compact, and would be perfect for carrying around in your handbag for touch-ups as it contains a mirror within the lid as well as a miniature brush which is amazing for precise concealing.

Louise Young Super Concealer TrioLouise Young Super Concealer Trio

The Louise Young Super Concealer Trio in Fair contains a pale skin tone concealer (Ivory), a light yellow toned concealer (Pale Almond), and a pale pink toned concealer (Porcelain) – all of which are an amazing shade match for my skintone. The first shade is perfect for concealing blemishes as it’s the same shade as my skintone and it has such good coverage, with a nice and creamy texture so it doesn’t cling to dry patches which I love. I like to use the second shade with the yellow tone for counteracting the darkness of my under-eye circles, but again the coverage is fantastic so I do have to use a light hand, but if you have pale skin with a warm undertone, you could use the middle shade as your concealer shade. The third shade in the trio is similar to the first in tone, but it’s a little pinker so it’s absolutely perfect for brightening the skin but I’ve really enjoyed using it to conceal my acne scarring, which it does very well.

Each of the concealer pans contain 1.5g of product which I think is pretty impressive considering the trio costs £20, and you get a brush and mirror included too. The consistency of these concealers is really creamy and they offer buildable coverage. Due to the creaminess of the concealers, they definitely need setting with powder which isn’t an issue as I always set my concealer but they might be better suited for those with normal to dry skin, as their emollient consistency might not work well with oily skin types. I am so impressed with this little concealer trio, and I can’t wait to try more from the Louise Young makeup range.

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Vitamin D Deficiency

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So I got my lab test back from my annual checkup with my doctor, and I thought everything turned out okay…except it wasn’t.  My Vitamin D level was below the specified range (30-100), so naturally I Googled everything there is to know about Vitamin D.

How to Get More Vitamin D

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  1. Go outside between the hours of 10am-2pm.  This is the cheapest (it’s FREE) and easiest way of taking in extra Vitamin D.  If you’re working indoors with no exposed windows (like me), take a break outside or walk during your lunch hour.  Asians are deathly afraid of the sun, but like plants we need sunlight to keep us healthy.  However, you need to take things in moderation and only stay out in the sun long enough to have your skin turn the lightest shade of pink. This may only be a few minutes for those who have very pale skin.  You can get 30% of your Vitamin D from just being outside.  Additionally, Vitamin D can help prevent cancer (see this article).  It is very difficult to get enough vitamin D from food sources alone, as very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, and those that do will not contain enough to optimize your levels.
  2. Take Vitamin D supplements.  The Food and Nutrition Board recommends the daily intake of 600 IU for children and adults up to 70 years old, and 800 IU if you’re older.  There are different forms of Vitamin D you can take:
      • Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is the type of vitamin D the body naturally produces in the skin in response to sun exposure.  Cholecalciferol is 87% more potent in raising and maintaining vitamin D concentrations and produces 2- to 3-fold greater storage than does D2.  However, Vitamin D3 supplements are not vegetarian and are not likely to be derived from American products. If an individual has ethical concerns over D3, D2 can be an effective replacement.
      • Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) comes from fungi and plants grown through UV lights.  Good vegan substitution for your Vitamin D supplement needs.  Some studies showed that ergocalciferol is comparable to cholecalciferol.
  3. Eat foods high in Vitamin D.  Vitamin D is oil soluble, which means you need fat to dissolve it.  You also still need to take 600 IU of Vitamin D.
      • Cod Liver Oil – not vegan (duh), but it’s a popular food product that is high in Vitamin A and D.  It also has 1000 IU per 100g serving.
      • Fortified Cereal – vegan, but not always gluten-free.  Check the labels to make sure it doesn’t contain any processed sugar and hydrogenated oil.  Cereals can provide over 3000 IU per 100g serving (2 cups).
      • Fish like herring, salmon, mackerel, tuna, and your basic sushi meal.  Raw fish is better than cooked fish, and canned fish in oil is better than canned fish in water.  This is a great way for pescaterian to get their Vitamin D, but not so much for vegans/vegetarians.  IUs depend on the type of fish, but herring has the most at over 1500 IU per 100g serving.
      • Other seafood like oysters and caviar.  These provide 1/3 to 1/2 of your daily IU recommendation, with raw oysters at 320 IU per 100g (269 at 6 oysters), and caviar at 230 IU per 100g.
      • Fortified tofu and soymilk.  Vegan and gluten-free.  Fortified Tofu can provide up to 157 IU per 100g serving (44 IU per ounce). Fortified Soy Milk can provide up to 49IU per 100g serving (119 IU per cup). Amounts of vitamin D vary widely between products, so be sure to check nutrition facts for vitamin D content.
      • Salami, Ham, Sausages can be taken in moderation since they are high in sodium and cholesterol.  They provide a little Vitamin D, averaging about 9% of your 600 IU per 100g serving.
      • Eggs, Cheese, Butter and Milk are good source of protein and calcium, but Vitamin D levels tend to be less than 100 IU per 100g serving.
      • Mushrooms, especially white button mushrooms provide 27 IU per 100g serving.

So the bottom line is that people are not taking enough Vitamin to protect their health.  While people can make vitamin D from the sun, getting too much sun increases the risk of skin cancer, so it’s not always the best way to get vitamin D.  By comparison, Vitamin D supplements of 800 to 1,000 IU per day are fairly inexpensive and safe and provide a reasonable approach to avoiding Vitamin D deficiency.

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