LP - The USA edition: Physicians Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blushes, Powder and Light Bronzer

If you see this post on another site than lotuspalace.blogspot.com it has been stolen and used without my permission. I only allow reposts with proper credits for my work (please contact me first!)!
Sorry for another non-Asian makeup post =) I am just so excited about my Physicians Formula stuff that I can´t stop posting hehe =D

I first stumbled across the Happy Booster products on Rouge Deluxe which is still my favorite blog to read =)
There are blushes, powders and bronzers in the Happy Booster range so I picked up both blushes (Natural and Rose), the powder in Translucent and the Light Bronzer.
All products come in cute pink metallic pink compacts with a clear flip-top cover and a brush and mirror stored below the blush pan. The blush cases are smaller than the powder and bronzers and also are a bit cheaper.
The brush looks quite cute (pink and red bristles!) however the quality is quite low, these will do in a rush though!

All products smell supposedly like violet but to me it´s more of a rose blend... The scent is not that strong but it´s there so if you dislike scent in your makeup you might not be fond of these blushes.
All 4 products have a silky and fineily milled texture and are nicely pigmented (except for the powder).

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blusher in Natural and Rose:


Certainly the blushes attracted me first with their super cute heart patterns and their beautiful slightly glowy finish.


These are quite pigmented and blend very well to a natural finish. These look shimmery at first but in fact these aren´t, they offer a pretty ethereal kinda glow but without shimmer, more of a pearl finish. Very pretty!

Natural is a reddish peach shade

Rose is a nice hot pink shade

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Powder in Translucent:

At first I thought this would be only suitable as a highlighter however this is actually a really nice finishing powder for all over the face. It looks as cute as the other products with all the hearts, there is even a pink heart which can be used as a blush (it´s pigmented enough to show up for sure).


This gives a softly glowy finish without glitter...it doesn´t exactly make me look dewy but really glowy.

Gorgeous stuff just like the blushes, has become a daily staple.

Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Bronzer in Light Bronzer:

I am not much of a bronzer person even though I am so super pale. I like myself pale so I am not into faking a tan I naturally can´t achieve (I am only turning red if I don´t put on enough sun protection).

I got the bronzer mainly to use this as a contouring powder and since PF has lighter bronzers suitable for fair skin I thought I am going to try this one from the Happy Booster range because it´s so cute with the hearts design.
The Light Bronzer works great as a contouring powder as it´s subtle but still does the job well. I am not sure how it performs all over the face as I haven´t used it that way.

This has a pink heart just like the powder which can be used as a blusher.
This product has the same silky pearly finish like the other Happy Booster items.

Overall I totally love these 4 products, they are so pretty, give a gorgeous glowy finish and are affordable (I think I paid around €6.50/each for the blushes and €8-something for the powder/bronzer on drugstore.com).

Possible cons for some might be the scent and the crappy brushes but I don´t care for either.

Rating 5/5

Kanebo Impress Color Powder N in 01 PK

Today I am going to review the one and only product I own from the VERY expensive Kanebo Impress range.
I wouldn´t have bought the Color Powder N for its full price anyway which sums up to a total of 8000 Yen (+tax...around US$98) for the case and refill. But on ebay I scored it for less than half that price...still hefty but along the lines of "normal" Japanese brands and I remember I read somewhere about the excellent quality of the Impress face makeup items.

The case is sturdy, elegant and simple but after all..made of plastic! Considering that one has to pay over US$30 for the case alone one should be able to expect something more elaborate.

There is a very wide super soft brush included which actually can do a wonderful job dusting a sheer layer of this product over the face.
The refill is a metal pan and is fixed with the soft glue attached to the back of it.

This is a finishing powder..so it should be used on top of any kind of foundation AND powder or powder foundation...so like the Météorites as the very last step of the makeup process.

I chose the color 01 PK which consists of a very sheer pale pinkish flesh and a light beige color. The powder is very finely milled and feels silky and smooth. It has the most gorgeous light sheen but there is no actual color, glitter or even shimmer showing up...just a beautiful soft glow. Really gorgeous and I really love this powder as the last step of my makeup routine!

Even though this product is expensive it´s a wonderful finishing powder and I am happy I found an opportunity to try this out.
There are also a yellow and a purplish color available.


Rating 5/5

Shiseido Maquillage 5th Anniversary Powder Celebration

A Happy New Year to everyone! =D I hope you had a great start to the new year! Since the kids are not in school these days I am too busy to really sit on the net but today I could get some time off to blog finally!
 
Shiseido released a special product to celebrate Maquillage´s 5th birthday! Wow, so long since that brand debuted, I can remember that time very well... I was a bit sad as they discontinued PN, MQ´s predecessor, but now I think that MQ has developed into a really good makeup brand so I am actually not missing PN at all.

The Powder Celebration is hands-down the most expensive makeup product I have purchased so far. It´s definitely a luxurious splurge but I couldn´t resist it nonetheless =)

The Powder Celebration is a huge beautiful vintage-style glass jar including 7 shades of loose powder, a pressed mini powder compact, a spatula and a brush. Everything comes housed in a pretty and sturdy golden cardboard box.
The powders are housed in a plastic container so you can just remove it when you´ve used up the powders to put other things in the glass jar (I imagine jewellery or luxe chocolates would be a nice filling).

Anyway, you get 7 shades of powder, but there is twice as much of the white color compared to the other shades.

The powders are arranged in a wheel with a compartment in the middle to mix the colors according to your needs (just take a little with the included spoon). For me the space in the center is not nearly huge enough to swirl my face brush comfortably though so I prefer to mix the colors in the powder´s cover. 

The texture of these loose powders is excellent, super finely milled and soft with a delicate floral scent. The colors are super sheer so they are really rather finishing powders than color powders in my opinion even though MQ suggest using the powders as eyeshadows and blushes, too.

The colors included are white (pearl finish), light beige, purple (pearl finish), green (pearl finish), pink, orange and yellow.
My dear friend Iris from Rouge Deluxe wrote this excellent and very detailed post on the Powder Celebration, like how to use the colors so I highly suggest checking her post out here!

I think it´s good that they included more of the white powder as I usually mix it with the other colors. 
I love using a mix of the white and purple or green all over my face and highlight and a bit of the pink on my cheeks..even though it´s not really adding color it makes my complexion look fresher in an instant.
The yellow color is great for setting eye concealer as it´s so finely milled it won´t settle into fine lines and in the same time the light yellow tint is correcting the bluish tones of the skin under my eyes.
I don´t use the beige and orange colors much...the beige is a good finishing powder and the orange is also a good skin-freshener but I just like the pink a bit more for this purpose.

Overall excellent quality powders but the included amount of 32g (which sounds a lot at first) won´t last that long as actually a considerable amount per application is being used. I wish MQ would sell an affordable refill of these powders as they are the first loose powder product I actually like!

This set also contains a pressed version including all 7 colors blended together into 1 compact. The small plastic compact contains a measly 4 g which will not last really long but it´s handy to use it on the go and it gives a really gorgeous ethereal glow to the skin. The color is very sheer so this should suit most skin-tones as either a finishing powder or a highlighter.
The cute pattern is just a glitter overspray that will vanish after the first use.




The brush is of really nice quality albeit to small to be used as a face brush, its good for punctual application like on the cheeks or below eyes. 
The spoon is a cheapo plastic thing, not exactly elegant but it does the trick.

Now let´s talk about the price. To me the price is downright obscene despite being a limited edition and the fancy glass jar.
I mean around US$150 for some powder? Take a break! I was lucky not to pay more than retail plus shipping but still it hurts =P 


Anyway, it gets a rating of 4/5 as the quality is excellent but the price is too steep. They should have included some cooler stuff like lipstick or eyeshadows I think =P

Xmas 2010: Guerlain Météorites Perles d´Or & Rouge G Le Brillant Jewel Lipstick Compact in B64 Bee

To me Guerlain is the epitome of French elegance. Their Météorites are a real cult product and highly sought after.

This year the Holiday collection "Collection Les Ors" is absolutely gorgeous! I was given the opportunity to try and review a few items from the collection and honestly when I saw the promo pics I thought I would like to have the whole collection as everything looked very pretty lol!
 
To my greatest delight I received the following:
-Météorites Perles d´Or 
-Rouge G Le Brillant Jewel Lipstick Compact in B64 Bee

-Météorites Perles d´Or Illuminating Powder:
Here is what Guerlain states about this product:

"A Promise of Radiance:
The legendary Météorites represent absolute radiance, an ideal light made of complementary colours that chase away imperfections with a harmonious halo. Correcting and illuminating, Météorites is the powder that surpasses all powders.
For this festive spirit, it offers even more surprises: it is enriched with a golden shade, to light up the complexion and a violet specially created for the season to catch the light and soften shadowy areas.

Deep within the powder lies a harmony of 6 pearls for absolute radiance:

-illuminating effect: a copper gold and an iridescent white;
-unifying effect: a neutral white gold and a pearly apricot to warm up dull complexions;
-correcting effect: a pink to revive tired complexions and a violet to set the light and brighten shadowy areas.


A Jewel Case
To celebrate the festivities in style, Météorites Perles d´Or dresses up in a chiselled metal case stamped with the rosette, the Météorites seal, and embossed with a finely embossed golden bee."

I absolutely adore the beautiful metal container which has some vintage feel for me. It´s so pretty and the golden bee is really sweet! The beads are covered with a soft black puff so they stay in place, too.

The Météorites are a finishing powder for perfecting the skin and giving a radiant look. They come in various color combinations to flatter a variety of skin-tones.
For the Holiday 2010 collection the Météorites come in a gorgeous combination of pink, purple, white, apricot, white gold and golden beads as you can read above.

The Météorites are fragranced, quite a strong floral scent (violet) which i first thought would bother me but actually I like it and it doesn´t linger on my skin at all, about 2 minutes after application I don´t smell it anymore. 
While I am all about unfragranced makeup like the Japanese brands generally do I don´t mind the Guerlain scent.

I swirl my fluffy face brush over the beads and apply a sheer layer to my face. 
I was a bit sceptical if the Météorites would be different from other powders but it´s really amazing to see how well this product works instantly in giving radiance to my skin and making it looks flawless. This isn´t a glittery or even really shimmery powder but it rather gives a pearly soft glow which is so pretty. I think this color combination works so well with my skin color but I am sure it would flatter a variety of skin tones as it´s a sheer translucent product.
I am actually so thrilled with this and now I can understand the raves on MUA and other blogs and I will introduce this into my daily makeup routine as a finishing powder (which means it´s the only non-Japanese product I plan on using regularly lol)!

I apply this after using base, foundation, concealer, regular face powder, blush and highlighter. 


Retails for US$56

Rating 5/5

-Rouge G Le Brillant Jewel Lip Compact in B64 Bee: 
Guerlain´s information about this product:

"As the final touch of exquisite make-up, Rouge G Le Brillant elegantly completes eye make-up by enhancing the lips with intense violet, subtly scintillating with golden pearly particles. This is the secret to an irresistible smile. Chic lies in the detail: the bee lands on the interior mirror of the gold ingot case, decorated with a golden stamp.
Limited Edition shade: B64 `Bee`"

When I first held the box in my hand I thought this is a really heavy lipstick, heavier than any other I have ever had. I personally like weighty lipsticks as there is always something luxury about them.  
The Rouge G looks like some futuristic piece of art with its rounded shapes. The coolest feature is the dual mirror hidden in the cap! This Holiday color even has the cute bee on the mirror!

The color B64 Bee somehow sounded like it would be some caramel shade which was what I associated with the word "bee". But when I opened the tube it revealed a deep vampy garnet-berry shade with fine golden shimmer which looked very deep and a bit scary at first.

But this turned out to be a really stunning golden-flecked berry shade as it´s richly pigmented but not as dark and scary as I thought at first. 
This is defnitely not your muted slap-on-lipstick. This is a statement color which requires a subtle eye makeup, evened out skin, lipliner and a lip base and exact application to look its best. 


The lipstick is very creamy and moist and all in all just an absolute pleasure to apply. The color is pigmented and rich and with a pretty moist and shimmery finish. It stays on pretty well and wears off evenly just leaving some golden shimmer bits behind.



It´s scented which is something I generally dislike and would be the only draw-back about this lipstick for me. The scent fades after some time but still i can detect it and it´s just something unnecessary for me.

Otherwise a gorgeous holiday item and I will definitely use this a lot during this fall and winter season.

Retails for US$46

Rating: 4.5/5

Here are some promo pics incl. the other holiday items.


 
The complete collection includes:
-Midnight Star Extraordinary Radiance Treatment - US$73
-Or Imperial Sublime Radiant Powder Face & Body - US$85
-Météorites Perles d´Or - US$56
-Météorites Poudre d´Or - US$170
-Ombre Eclat 4 Shades Eye Shadow US$59
-Le 2 Volume Mascara - US$36
-Rouge G le Brillance Lipstick - US$46
-KissKiss Strass (2 shades) - US$31


Guerlain´s Holiday Colour collection is available beginning October 2010 at select Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sephora, Bloomingdales and Bergdorf Goodman stores.
I am sure the collection will sell worldwide at select counters, here in Austria it´s out by early November.