Fridays with Felicia: Volume 14

Fridays with Felicia: An intimate look behind the curtain as I share my favorite style/ beauty discoveries and ThisThatBeauty shenanigans from previous week.

Happy Friday everyone! Do y’all mind if I kick off Fridays with Felicia with a little self-promotion? It’s all good?..well alrighty!

I would love to have your support in a really cool initiative that I’ve been asked to take part in. It’s called the Bright Young Things Style Challenge. I mentioned it earlier in the week (here’s the detailed post if you missed it) but wanted to make one final plea before the weekend 🙂

Along with several fashion bloggers, I was asked to style the same Little Black Dress using my own pieces as well as pieces from Cobblestones — a wonderful little vintage boutique in the East Village. While the Style Council will vote on their favorite take on the Little Black Dress, you “the people” get to vote on your favorite…sort of like the People’s Choice Award.

I think it’s pretty darn cool to see how we each brought our unique flair and inspiration to the same LBD. To vote for your favorite look (not saying it has to be my look but read between the lines…LOL)

Go to Bright Young Thing’s Facebook page

• “Like” the Bright Young Things Facebook page
• Then “Like” the post that features the Little Black Dress Style Challenger that you like the best….I’m hoping you’ll vote/”like” my look but the ladies all do an amazing job. You may vote/”like” more than one lady!
• The best part is that your vote/”like” earns you an entry into the contest to win your own LBD…How cool is that?

Well here’s the LBD, my looks, and a quick video that was shot while I played dress-up at Cobblestones Boutique in the East Village.

For the last week I’ve been testing out an eye liner that you all NEED to know about. If you like the look of liquid but hate the mess…or if you’re tired of your eye liner running all over the place, listen up because ThisThatBeauty’s got you covered.

Meet Pixie Endless Silky Eye Pen. The liner is actually a pencil so I’m not sure why it’s called “pen”…but let’s not lose sleep over that one girls! What matters most is that this hypo allergenic and paraben free eye liner lives up to its claim of long wear and budge proof perfection. I went so far as to sleep in the liner (a cardinal sin for moi…oh the things I do for TTB:)) and the liner was still in tact in the morning. I kid you not.

Finally, the intensity of a liquid in the form of a sharpen-able (did I just make up a word?) pencil. I did my trial run of Pixie Endless Silky Eye Pen in Black Noir, but I hear the liner also comes in stunning shades of teal, purple, and blue.

I did a couple of swatches. Check out the intensity of Black Noir.

Ladies, aren’t we always on the hunt for THE perfect rich black liner? Well my search stops at Pixie Endless Silky Pen.

********************

In recent years, salon quality treatments at-home have gained lots of momentum. More and more women are forgoing office visits for “similar” results at home. I for one haven’t been in for my usual silk peel in quite some time because I feel I am achieving comparable results at home with the use of various peels, exfoliants, lotions, and potions.

While office peels and special treatments can easily run $200+, similar at-home do-it-yourself options are usually a fraction of the price. Now at-home alternatives aren’t always as effective as the office service but most times (in my experience) the results are “similar”…and if you’re minding your P’s and Q’s (like me) you don’t really mind “similar” results. With regular continued use, I find that many at-home treatments deliver results that very closely mirror professional results.

If you are looking for an alternative to spending hundreds of dollars a month on professional micro dermabrasion treatments, consider Personal Microderm. The home microdermabrasion kit targets rough texture, sun damage, general skin buildup, etc. As someone who really invests in high quality serums and such, I am a firm believer that proper exfoliation is the key to your products working effectively and deeply penetrating your skin. If you frequently receive professional micro dermabrasion treatments, Personal Microderm can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in the long run!

I like that the system is affordably priced under $200 and is easy to use. I constantly advocate for stepping up your anti-aging routine at an early age. I’ve been doing peels and regular exfoliation since I was 21. Now my advice is not to get overly aggressiveve, but gentle exfoliation, starting at maybe once a week is imperativeve for healthy glowing skin. Personal Microderm can help you get there!

********************

Let’s talk drugstore beauty. While I’ve never been able to resist the intoxicating call of the drugstore cosmetics aisle (I guess this sort of explains why I am a beauty writer and makeup artist) as of late, the drugstore is really putting it down and offering products that until recently mainly existed in high end department stores. While recently trolling cosmetics in my local WalMart, I spied lots and lots of products that are certainly taking their cues from high-end prestige lines. Naturally, with iPhone in hand, I thought this beauty observation would be perfect for Fridays with Felicia. So shall we?:

L’OREAL offers DE-CREASE, a priming base to be applied prior to eye shadow to help prevent shadow from creasing. Wow, remember when Urban Decay Primer Potion was the top dog in the eye shadow primer game? I wonder how DE-CREASE compares. Have any of you tried DE-CREASE? Leave a comment!

For reals???…Black Radiance makes a self adjusting lip gloss? I hope the folks at Smashbox aint mad. Black Radiance Perfect Tone is a dead wringer for Smashbox O-Gloss. *insert “wow” bob* Wow wOw Wow…

Is Neutrogena’s Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector the poor man’s YSL Touche eclat? Hmmm…

Almay offers a mascara that allows you to adjust and “dial up” the coverage. #FancyHuh

L’OREAL’s True Match Naturale line offers “expert” brushes to accompany their powders. I imagine that your every day consumer who’s clueless about brushes must really appreciate the added bonus.

For about $5, REVLON gives you the “Beyond Natural” lash collection with three different lashes to choose from and a lash glue with applicator.

The pigment on the new eye palettes from Physician’s Formula is quite intense. I think these are great for makeup newbies who want to experiment with color!

Lastly, since we’re on the topic of bargain shopping for makeup, I’ve got a special offer to share with you. Now through August 10 LORAC’s current “Sweet Steal” is the Perfectly Lit Luminizing Powder in SPOTLIGHT. Normally priced at $32 the “Sweet Steal” price is only $9 and is available exclusively at Sephora stores and Sephora.com. The luminizing powder gives the radiant lit from within look that we all desire. By optimizing the effect of the light to diminish imperfections, Perfectly Lit Luminizing Powder blurs imperfections and brightens complexion. I know you all love a great deal so I figured I would share!

xo, Felicia