The Truth About Mineral Makeup

Here's the entire mineral makeup collection from Ultimo Cosmetics. I got it for $30 off of eBay with FREE shipping. A really good deal and the quality is great, too. Now I've never tried Bare Escentuals, but I can't imagine that it's a whole lot superior to Ultimo or any other mineral makeup brand (btw, you may have noticed that EVERYONE has jumped on the mineral makeup bandwagon, from Estee Lauder to MAC). My favorite items in the collection have got to be Warmth and Silk. Warmth is like a bronzer without the sparkle. It gives a really natural-looking, warm (haha) glow to the face. Silk is simply awesome. It brightens up your complexion with light-reflecting prisms that literally give you a fresh-faced glow. One thing I have noticed about mineral makeup is subpar coverage. If you have a lot of acne or very dark undereye circles, you'll get much better coverage with a cream concealer.

Mosaic Masterpiece

I got this pink mosaic blush at the drugstore for less than $5. Let me tell you that it works just as well as any other blush including the ones that cost $20 (in this economy?! I don't think so.) I recommend a mosaic blush to a regular blush that is basically just one color. Why? Because the different shades in a mosaic blush offer more dimension to your cheek color, making the glow to your cheeks look more authentic. Instead of looking like a painted up harlot, you look like a blushing bride. Much better.

Benefit: Big Beautiful Eyes

Alliteration aside, Benefit's eye palette, "Big Beautiful Eyes," is all kinds of awesome. It works with every eye color, and the little guide booklet makes it easy for anyone to apply. This is one of the many reasons I love Benefit: they include two types of brushes, an undereye concealer and three different types of shadows. Just pack this palette and a tube of lipgloss and you can backpack through Europe without the need for any additional makeup item.

*Please excuse my horrible pictures brought to you by my iPhone.

Bobbi Brown: The Normal One

Even though I know that this Bobbi Brown is not the wife-beating, crack-smoking former boy bander, it still gives me a jolt every time I see this name on a tube of lipstick or bottle of nail polish.
Fortunately, I recover a second later and remind myself that this particular Bobbi Brown was blessed with the beauty skills of a goddess, and then I can go ahead and purchase the lotions and potions that will magically (albeit temporarily) transform me into a gorgeous sex pixie, or something.

Sun-Kissed

My second favorite beauty product (after mascara, that is): bronzer! I'm pale and anything that brings me even one iota closer to looking like a bronze goddess, aka Gisele Bundchen, is like a gift from heaven. I wonder if angels are tan...I mean, they must be awfully close to the sun, right?

Photo credit: Karla Ticas/ http://www.karlaticas.com/

Yum!

I just realized that one of the major reasons why I love makeup is because it reminds me of food. Like these lipglosses from Lorac - they look like little pieces of hard candy! I wanna suck on all of them! In fact, I tend to eat my lipgloss off as soon as I apply it.

Zit Blaster

This is the coolest thing EVER! It literally blasts the zits right off your face overnight. Ok fine, it really just makes them much smaller and practically invisible, but when it comes to zits that's pretty amazing. All you have to do is dab a small amount all over the pimple, go to sleep, wake up and look gorgeous! This is especially perfect for those zits that are white in the middle and red on the sides. Ewwwwwwwww!

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion, $17

Honey Pot

Here's a potted lip gloss (Hot Wired, $24) from Nars that makes me hungry everytime I look at it. It's just so creamy and inviting kinda like a pot of honey. It goes on smoothly when applied with a lip brush and doesn't bleed through, which is a problem I tend to have with my lip makeup. Great, now I'm hungry again.

photography Karla Ticas/ karlaticas.com

Mineral Mascara

The mineral makeup craze doesn't look like it's gonna let up anytime soon. It used to be the type of makeup you'd only hear about on late-night infomercials, but over the past two years or so mineral makeup has gone mainstream. Even drugstore brands like Maybelline have added a mineral collection (btw, Maybelline's mineral face powders are really good).

Just when you thought the mineral stuff was always gonna be in loose powder form, a makeup company steps in to prove you wrong. For example, Kiehl's new Mineral Mascara (I'm not exactly sure how they did it, but it sounds intriguing). It will officially be available in April, retailing for about $20. So, make sure you look out for it especially if you're a mascara junkie like me.

Chanel Stamp

I just love it when makeup products come with cute little gimmicks. Just when I think I couldn't love makeup any more, they come up with some adorable idea like stamping the brand's logo onto the beauty product; like this Chanel Rouge Allure lipstick, $30, for example. It's already a totally badass red, but that CHANEL stamp just seals the deal. I'm gonna go out and buy about a dozen.

A Rorschach Test

What do you see when you look at this gorgeous splatter of Lorac lipgloss and MAC nail polish? Ok, I'm not gonna lie it just looks like a giant splurt to me, but it's definitely a splurt I'd love to have on my lips and nails - ha!


Photography Karla Ticas http://www.karlaticas.com
Prop stylist Leibi Carias

White Out

For all those times you just couldn't keep your fingers away from your pimples. You popped them away and now you got ugly acne scars as a constant reminder. As long as they're not icepick scars or keloids, you can get rid of them! Yes, there is hope to erase those disturbing memories of past transgressions forever. 

Behold...The Whitening Lotion from Creme de la Mer, $75. Kinda pricey, but worth every penny.

Jackson Pollock

Who knew that you could create masterpieces with nail polish? Now, here's an untapped art medium if there ever was one. Not artistically inclined? Use 'em on your toes!

Clockwise from top:

Lili Nail Lacquer in red: $9.50 >310.717.7372

MAC Nail Lacquer in purple orchard: $11 >http://www.maccosmetics.com/

Bobbi Brown Nail Lacquer in tutu opaque: $8.50 >http://www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com/

Lili Nail Lacquer in fuchsia: $9.50 >310.717.7372

Lili Nail Lacquer in yellow: $9.50 >310.717.7372

Photography Karla Ticas/ http://www.karlaticas.com/

Prop styling Leibi Carias

My Magic Wand

I love this curl-enhancing mascara from La Prairie. It's made in Switzerland so you know it's gonna be AWESOME! The price ($40) makes me sad, but the gorge lashes I get give me the warm fuzzies. Luckily, I have no problem ignoring the price tag. It's one of my many gifts, dolls.

La Prairie Cellular Treatment Mascara Instant Curl: $40 >http://www.shoplaprairie.com/

Photo courtesy of La Prairie

Brush On, Brush Off

No one in her right mind uses those ancient applicator thingies that come pre-packaged with eyeshadows, right? You know what I'm talking about, those rounded, sponge-tipped little wands that fell apart after one use? Well, I sincerely hope no one except your grandma uses those sad little "applicators" anymore. If for some unknown reason you are still applying your eyeshadow with these Q-tips (seriously, that's what they are if you really think about it), let me introduce you to this luxe eyeshadow brush from Estee Lauder. Perfect for base shading, it sweeps on like a dream.

Large Eyeshadow Brush: $25 >http://www.esteelauder.com/

Photo courtesy of Estee Lauder

Yes, Eye Can!

Crow's feet, fine lines and undereye bags got you down? Insanely overpriced eye cream to the rescue!

No, but seriously, this awesome eye cream from the mother of all eye creams, La Mer, will give you skin like a baby's bottom. Soft, supple and scrumptious! Ok, maybe not scrumptious, but you get the idea.

La Mer's The Eye Concentrate: $165 >http://www.cremedelamer.com/

Photo courtesy of La Mer

Fame! I wanna live foreverrr...

This gorgeous shade from Smashbox Cosmetics, appropriately called "Fame," desperately needs a home on every starlet's, and wannabe starlet's, mouth. I'm not an authority on the topic, but I'm pretty sure it'll make you famous just by wearing it. Otherwise, why would they give it such an ambitious name? You heard it here first, folks.

Smashbox lip enhancing gloss in Fame: $18 >http://www.smashbox.com/

Photography Karla Ticas/http://www.karlaticas.com/

Prop styling Leibi Carias

Get Naked

It's January, and if you live outside of southern California, you're probably freezing your butt off. (For some reason, it's been about 80 degrees here for the past week. Global warming? Ahem.) I'm not encouraging you to take your clothes off, but I am encouraging you to try these nude-colored lip products. See what I did there? I know; I'm hilarious.

As you daydream about stripping down and jumping in the pool come summertime, at least a part of you can be nude. Your lips, that is.

Pictured left to right:

Lorac lipgloss in caffeine martini: $18 >http://www.loraccosmetics.com/

Chanel rouge hydrabase lipstick in great copper: $28.50 >http://www.chanel.com/

TooFaced mirror mirror lipgloss in perfect: $16 >http://www.toofaced.com/

Chanel glossimer lipgloss in amberlight: $27

Smashbox wicked lovely lip pencil in sugar spice: $22 >http://www.smashbox.com/

Photography Karla Ticas/http://www.karlaticas.com/

Prop styling Leibi Carias