New from Buxom: Smoky Eye Sticks In Eight Action-Packed Colors!

I loved, loved, loved Samantha's Smoky Eye from Buxom when it launched last fall. What made the kit so amazing was the Smoky Eye Stick in black. It smudged in a way that was different from other chubby liners or shadows and it wore amazingly well. The stick was also waterproof and packed with vitamin E and aloe, which helped it glide into place and stay there once it was smoked, smudged or lined.


(My original Samantha's Smoky Eye Look)


On the heels of that success, next week, Buxom is launching a full line of Smoky Eye Sticks.


I couldn't be more excited! They will be available at Sephora ($18 each) in eight kick butt colors:





Ice Pick, a smoky grey.


Silver Sword, a smoky silver.


Nunchucks, a royal blue.



Bow and Arrow, a smoky moss.


5" Stiletto, a smoky plum.


Brass Knuckles, a smoky bronze.


Two By Four, a brownish black.


Smokin' Pistol, a smoky coal.


The way you can wear these colors is endless, but here are some tips I picked up along the way.


(From the top: Ice Pick, Nunchucks, Smokin' Pistol, Silver Sword, Two By Four, 5" Stiletto, Brass Knuckles, Bow & Arrow)


Start with the Prime Time Eyelid Primer. It helps these sticks adhere even more. These Smoky Eye Sticks have slightly less "tack" than the original that came with Samantha's Smokey Eye kit. These have a little more glide and a little more workability time.


(Ice Pick, Nunchucks, Smokin' Pistol, Silver Sword.)


Because of that, they work best with the Stay There Shadows and the regular BE eye shadows. It's been my experience that the High Shine Eye Shadow with the wand applicator does not allow for these to "grip" as well, so stick to your basic colors.


(Two By Four, 5" Stiletto, Brass Knuckles, Bow & Arrow.)



(Wearing the Prime Time Eye Primer in Gold, Poodle on the lid and Brass Knuckles smudged up from the lash line.)


You can use these Smoky Eye Sticks to create a myriad of looks. Go goth like Taylor Momsen using the smoky coal as a shadow, smoke out a plum eye for an evening on the town or do a thick line from the outside half of the iris with the smoky grey for a respectable, but butt kicking daytime look. Even reinvent your favorite shadows by using a Smoky Stick under your shadow for a quick, easy, multidimensional look.


(Nunchucks and Black Ice (shadow) - a lethal combination that dads* everywhere warn you about!)


The looks you can get with these colors are truly limitless. To get the most out of them, I strongly urge you to get the brush that comes separately.

You'll use this to add crease color with regular shadows too. Something about it fits perfectly in the crease of your eye. I use mine almost every day, even if I'm not using Nunchucks as a way to prepare for my day.

These will be available in February at Sephora for $18 and the brush will retail for $17. What colors do you have your eye on?


These were sent for review. Buxom and BE don't test on animals.

*If my Dad were still alive, he would warn me about black ice any time there was the smallest chance it was out there, lurking along country roads. It makes me smile to know that my twin** Licia's Dad still does the same thing...

** Clearly, we aren't real twins. But in old photos, we were practically indistinguishable from each other. And no, we weren't trying to look alike. We just did.


Subscribe and never miss a thing! Disclosure/Disclaimer Statement. Makeup, beauty, skincare reviews & more! Copyright 2009-2011, Gouldylox Reviews. All Rights Reserved.

BE Brilliant Gold Beauty Duo

I've been on a BE kick again lately, so today, check out the Bare Minerals Limited Edition Brilliant Gold Beauty Duo.


My friend who is the manager at Sephora told me I needed to check it out and that everyone was raving about it in the store, buying in bulk for fear it was going to be scarce after the holidays.


It comes in a pretty container, with a fancy gold lid.


It also comes with a fantastic travel brush, perfect for your purse and for looking posh when you reapply in public.


The lid is a little wonky. It allegedly gives you the perfect amount of powder. (Ensuring you'll almost never run out. If I didn't know better, I would swear this design is targeted towards never selling more of the product. Similar to when I worked on a pitch for a company that rhymes with Snoring Bare, whose problem was that their bakeware was so durable people never bought more, because you couldn't break or damage their famous white casserole dishes.) Anyway, the lid has a special design so that every time it is opened, the right amount of powder pops up into the reflective lid.

Personally, I don't think it gives enough powder with each application, so I end up using more.


It doesn't leave your face glittery or shiny, but looks like regular mineral veil with a little extra oomph. It's a subtle difference, but for everyday wear, I think it works really nicely. And based on how crazy things have been for me lately and how exhausted I am, it's just what the doctor ordered to perk up the look of my skin.

While I was looking for links to include with this post, I noticed the price had come down to $24 from Sephora. Sweet!! Grab it while you can!

Have you tried this? Have you tried the Pearl-infused one? That one has piqued my interest as well, but I haven't picked it up yet. Please let me know what you think!

I bought this with my own debit card. BE doesn't test on animals.

Subscribe and never miss a thing! Disclosure/Disclaimer Statement. Makeup, beauty, skincare reviews & more! Copyright 2009-2010, Gouldylox Reviews. All Rights Reserved.

Bare Escentuals Stocking Stuffers

I wrote about some of these items a few weeks ago, but loved Anne's look so much more than mine, I had to share this!

By Anne Houseman, of Beauty Xpose







First Thanksgiving, then my birthday, followed by Christmas and finally New Year’s. As usual, I’m beyond excited for the holiday season, and I’m already fully immersed in the holiday spirit. Case in point — my holiday shopping is well underway, I bought a pine-scented candle to tide me over until the Christmas tree comes, and I’ve been playing around with fun makeup and hair styles I plan to wear during the festivities.

For those of you who are just as ready to jump into the holiday spirit, Bare Escentuals has got you covered with several fabulous holiday gift sets.

Have your eye on shadows? Try the Bare Escentuals All Wrapped Up, a pretty package of six petite shadow pots in a range of party-ready colors (including four new shades!).





For just $34, this gorgeous set is affordable enough to get as a gift while picking one up for yourself too. Like all Bare Escentuals mineral shadows, the colors are deeply pigmented, swipe on fairly true to color, and can be built upon to create even more intense hues. These swatches were created with one solid swipe using an eyeshadow brush (no primer, no foiling).



Colorific, no?

If stocking stuffers are what you’re after, why not pick up a mini trio of Big, Bright & Brilliant eye liners ($20)?



These liners may be mini, but they pack a pigmented punch in three deep shades (click on the picture for a larger view, and check out the subtle sparkle in the Midnight Moon and Black Gold shades):



The best part about these liners? The tips are very tiny, allowing you to create a very thin line should you so choose. The only downside is that they didn’t stay on my waterline as long as I would have hoped, but that’s pretty standard on my eyes with any crayon-like liner.

This year, Bare Escentuals also has a yummy stocking stuffer just for the lip gloss lover: the DeLISH 100% Natural Lipgloss Palette ($22).



The three glosses — Vanilla Spice, Pink Sugar and Jelly — taste just like their namesakes and actually impart some of their color rather than going on completely sheer. One warning — while the set comes with a brush for application, these glosses are fairly soft, so you might want to just apply them (gently!) with your finger.

After playing around with these great gifts (so covet-worthy!), I put together a color-packed look that I hope is worthy of Kelly Gould, who’s the ultimate color master and Bare Escentuals fiend.



With a blend of four of the brighter shadows in the All Wrapped Up kit, I would wear this look at a holiday party or other evening soiree. I guess I consider it a colorful alternative to the traditional smoky eye. The key to this eye look is to blend, blend, blend!



To create this look, I began by swiping Tinsel over the entire lid. Then, I swept Mistletow all the way from the crease to just below the brow bone, also dabbing it in the inner corner of my eyes to really pick up the light. For highlight, I applied a light dusting of Garland just under the brow bone. Finally, to add depth (and that beautiful blue hue), I layered Bauble over the outer half of the lid (over the Tinsel), and extended it upward into the crease. Voila!



So what do you think? Will you be picking up any of these gifts for your loved ones (and/or yourself)?

Photos: Bare Escentuals, Anne Houseman/BeautyXpose
Disclaimer: Products furnished complimentary for review purposes




Subscribe and never miss a thing! Disclosure/Disclaimer Statement. Makeup, beauty, skincare reviews & more! Copyright 2009-2010, Gouldylox Reviews. All Rights Reserved.

Bare Escentuals All Wrapped Up

Looking for the perfect gift to take care of your friends? BE has more beautiful offerings than any other company I have come across this season (we're talking more than 22 new items launching between September and December). UPDATE! It's still available on the Q today for a reduced price of 29.98!


All Wrapped Up is one of my favorites; it is a gorgeous collection of six shadows in an adorable box, available for $34 from BE and Sephora this season.


(Top: Garland, Present, Mistletoe. Bottom: Gift, Bauble, Tinsel.)


All Wrapped Up comes with six petite-size shadows in colors that span the rainbow. Four of the six colors are new; The Present and The Gift are the colors you may have seen before. Forget browns, nudes and golds, which are everywhere. Instead, show off your color combo skills (and encourage your pals to do the same) to create endless looks with these holiday themed colors.


(Notice Beanford insisting he make it into the photo. I must have taken 10 of these where he jumped in after I moved him. )



Before we dive into how to wear them or how they look. I wanted to introduce you to my new review assistant, Beanford.



Beans is one of my rescue cats who, unbeknownst to me, loves makeup. Especially this kit.
Normally, he hangs out with me when I write (along with another cat and three dogs) and watches me take photos.


(His tail hits the touch screen and he has been known to send emails. Not kidding.)


Now that we've gotten that out of the way, back to the colors.

Here are the colors:


Here is a look at them swatched straight and foiled:


Here is a look at Mistletoe, Gift, Bauble and Tinsel on Beans.

I don't think they are his colors. I think he'd like the High Shine colors - Frost!- or the Rocker Kit with his coloring. He wouldn't let me swatch myself until I swatched him.


(Beanford and his partner in crime, Atticus "Kissy" Pants Cat, waiting for more swatches.)



These colors are so versatile, you can wear them a million ways. Here are a few of my favorites:

Garland all over with Gift foiled in the crease and lightly dry lined under your eye.

Gift lightly applied (or lightly foiled!) so it barely glistens over the inside half of your lid with either Bauble, Tinsel or Mistletoe in the outer half of the lid.

One of my favorite new tricks is to take any of the above combinations and use Present as the crease color, and take it slightly higher above the crease, but not quite to the brow bone.

(I am loving that look with Bauble, especially.) Any pinky coral that isn't sparkly will do the trick, if you want to just try it.

I didn't think I could carry it off, I'm pink shadow-shy in general, but I really liked it!


(I am also wearing Sandy and Brandi Buxom Gloss.)


Today, I wore Garland below the arch, Bauble on the inner half of my lid, Tinsel on the outer half and Present in the crease. Then I mixed Ink and Plum BE Big and Bright Liners over and under the eye. It was subtle, but I love the overall effect!



This collection is 100% Beanford Pie Approved!

This was sent to me for review. Other than this particular swatching with Beanford G. Loxy Cat (which was washed off immediately, for you concerned readers), BE doesn't test on animals.

Subscribe and never miss a thing! Disclosure/Disclaimer Statement. Makeup, beauty, skincare reviews & more! Copyright 2009-2010, Gouldylox Reviews. All Rights Reserved.