Makeup By Kim Porter

IT Cosmetics New Year, Your Most Beautiful Skin 5-Piece Collection in Rich {Swatches}

IT Cosmetics New Year Your Most Beautiful Skin Collection

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Hi Beauties!

You know I’m a huge fan of It Cosmetics, right?  Well, they’re kicking off 2015 with a new QVC Today’s Special Value set that features five new product launches.  What better way to start off the New Year than with new makeup that helps you achieve beautiful skin?  Today, the IT Cosmetics New Year, Your Most Beautiful Skin 5-Piece Collection is available until11:59 p.m. EST.  Below I have swatches, and a brief of the shade for darker skin tones, ‘Rich’.

IT Cosmetics is known for creating innovative cosmetics that incorporate the benefits of skincare like anti-aging properties, UVA/UVB protection, color correction, pore minimization, and more.  The New Year, Your Most Beautiful Skin 5-Piece Collection is no different.  This collection features five new product launches that provide both skincare and flawless coverage so that you are confident you’re putting your best face forward this year.

What’s included in the New Year, Your Most Beautiful Skin 5-Piece Collection

New! CC+ Eye Color Correcting Full Coverage Cream with Cold Spoon Technology

This full coverage eye cream has beautiful coverage, and applies smoothly.  The shade, although slightly darker than the complexion on my arm, works well on my face on my under eye area.

If you suffer from eye puffiness, fine lines and wrinkles in the eye area, the Cold Spoon Technology promises to instantly soothe the area, and help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

CC Eye Color Correcting Full Coverage Cream

New! CC+ Color Correcting Full Coverage Cream Compact

CC+ Creme in a compact? Yes! The great thing about it is that you only need a tiny bit to cover your entire face. It isn’t heavy on my skin, and it matches well with my complexion.

The CC+ Color Correcting Full Coverage cream offers the full coverage of a foundation with SPF 50+ UVA/UB, physical-only sunscreen, brightening color corrector, anti-aging serum, pore minimizing primer, dark spot corrector and a moisturizing day cream all-in-one.

CC Color Correcting Full Coverage Cream Compact

New! CC+ Airbrush Perfecting Powder 

Unfortunately, my powder arrived broken, but, I was still able to salvage enough to swatch.  This is a light-weight, talc-free powder that’s formulated with hydrolyzed silk, hydrolyzed collagen, niacin, peptides and anti-aging ingredients working together to provide a flawless airbrushed look, and hydrated skin.

The powder has never really been a perfect match for my skin tone; however, I use it to remove shine in my t-zone after applying makeup. It isn’t something I can use alone at all.

CC Airbrush Perfecting Powder

 

New! Blurred Lines Smooth Fill Lipstick

This is a super natural-looking lipstick that offers to smooth fine lines while adding moisture and nourishment to your lips with the following ingredients:  shea butter, jojoba, grape seed extract, cherry oil, and hyaluronic acid.

IT Cosmetics Blurred Lines Smooth Fill Lipstick

New! CC+ Angled Buffing Foundation Brush

IT Cosmetics has some of the best makeup brushes around.  They’re soft, are effective at applying makeup flawlessly, durable, an cruelty-free.  The brush is a custom-cut by hand brush with over 80,000 hairs! Talk about luxurious! Using this brush will provide flawless makeup application, giving off the appearance of “your skin but better”.

CC Angled Buffing Foundation Brush

The IT Cosmetics New Year, Your Most Beautiful Skin 5-Piece Collection has you covered in helping you achieve a naturally pretty look for 2015 (and beyond) whether your under eye area needs color correcting, you have some blemishes and/or pores you’d like to cover, or if you’d just rather add a pop of color to your lips while removing fine lines.  Make sure you tune in to QVC or QVC.com today (3 a.m., 9 a.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m.) until 11:59 p.m. EST to pick up a New Year, Your Most Beautiful Skin 5-Piece Collection before it’s gone. QVC Item #A256971 for $59.94 or two easy payments of $29.97 (plus shipping & handling).

The collection is available in 5 shades.

IT Cosmetics Colors

If you’d like to read a full review on the New Year, Your Most Beautiful Skin 5-Piece Collection, please just leave a request in the comment section below.

Fragrance Friday: Odin New York 09 Posala – The Perfect Winter Fragrance

Odin New York 09 Posala _bottle
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I have a weakness for a good fragrance, and for some reason, my fragrance choices always err on the expensive side like the newest addition to my fragrance collection: Odin New York 09 Posala.  Released over two years ago, I must admit, the niche fragrance line was not on my radar. Thankfully, my husband and I both share the same affinity for luxury fragrances, and he also has my scent preference down pact. He made an excellent choice in  picking up for me Odin New York 09 Posala.

Posala, which means “Farewell to spring flowers” in Native American describes this fragrance perfectly.  Although I began wearing the Odin New York 09 Posala at the start of winter, I can see smell how it makes for the perfect transitional scent from late spring into fall. Posala has top notes of pear blossom and peach, that transform into a warmer, spicier and much deeper scent mid-wear thanks to the bourbon and tobacco notes. Posala then settles at a soft, yet slightly sweet amber. For some reason, mixed with my chemistry I do not get any of the floral components of Posala, which doesn’t bother me.

Odin New York 09 Posala, I’m happy to report is long wearing.  I get over 12 hours of wear after spraying it on in the morning.  By the time my husband picks me up from the rail, which is close to 7 p.m., my husband can still smell Posala.  The sillage (pronounced seeyaz) is good; you cannot smell me from one mile away, but, get a hint of subtle sexiness as I pass.  Perfumes, I believe should modestly announce your presence, and not scream it.  Thankfully, Posala does the former.

ODIN New York 09 Posala
I’ll talk about the packaging for a little bit.  It’s simple. Scratch that, it’s sophisticated.  I love the all black everything packaging from the box, to the bottle.  It makes Odin New York 09 Posala seem mysterious and sensual.

Odin New York 09 Posala, like most Odin fragrances, is a unisex scent, and I can definitely see it being worn by a man, especially due to the tobacco and bourbon vanilla notes.  I also believe Posala is the perfect, sophisticated fragrance for a woman in her late 20’s and early 30’s that are into sexy, warm scents for the colder months

Odin New York 09 Posala  ($165/ 100ml) is available exclusively at Barney’s New York.

About Odin New York

New York based men’s clothing retailer, Odin New York, founded by Eddy Chai and Paul Birardi in 2004, launched their fragrance line in 2009. These fragrances were made in collaboration with perfumers Kevin Verspoor, Pierre Constantin Gueros, Jean-Claude Delville, Corinne Cachen and Philippe Romano.

 

 

 

 

The Beauty Council: Winter Beauty Staples #TheBeautyCouncil

The Beauty Council Winter Beauty Staples
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I’m a member of this awesome group of beauty bloggers, The Beauty Council, which means I will be linking up on some informative and fun beauty-related posts.  This time around, The Beauty Council is dishing on our Winter Beauty Staples.

Winter has shown her ugly face this past week in New York City.  One day, it was a balmy 60 degree day, and then the blistering 30 degree and below temperatures hit.  And, just recently, we had snow.  Right now, my heat is turned up high, and I’m bundled up like baby Jesus in the manger, and I’m keeping my winter beauty staples close by.  The combination of heat and the cold winter weather can wreak havoc on your hair, skin, and nails so it’s imperative that I have an arsenal of products that help combat the dryness and dull-looking skin that is associated with winter weather.

Winter Beauty Staples for Skin

Cleanser

Face: Neutrogena Ultra Gentle Hydrating Cleanser (creamy Formula).  I reviewed the foaming formula of this cleanser, but, since then, I’ve switched to the creamy version.  Both formula’s are great for my skin; however, the cream formula has become a winter beauty staple since it’s a lot more hydrating, is gentle and there’s no fragrance.

Body:  Right now, I’m using Hot Toddy shower gel from LUSH.  It’s the perfect combination of cinnamon and patchouli perfect for a warming experience while showering.  It contains aloe vera gel to aid in hydrating and healing dry skin.

Exfoliant

Face: Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant is one of my favorite exfoliating products to use because it’s gentle enough to use daily without causing harm and extra dryness to your skin.  You can read more about it in my review.

Body: I guess you an say that I exfoliate my body daily because I use mesh shower gloves. I just don’t feel clean without them; however, I do have days when I take an extra step to include a body scrub because I love having soft, smooth and glowing skin.  It an either be one of my homemade sugar scrubs, or the  Teadora Beauty Nourishing Body Polish I just reviewed.

Moisturizer

Face: I haven’t quite found a hydrating serum to add to my winter beauty staples, but, I still make sure my skin is well moisturized both during the day and in the evening.  During the day, I use Dermalogica’s Age Smart Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF50.  Even though it’s winter, it’s still important to wear SPF products during the day.  At night, I use the Valentia Vitamin Even Glow Serum along with one of my favorite moisturizers, Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentrate. For my lips, I  religiously use Carmex.  I seriously should own stock in the company.

Body: For my body, I normally alternate between various products.   During my lazy days when I don’t want to slather on moisturizer all over my body I reach for my LUSH Ro’s Argan Body Conditioner.  In doing so, I know my skin will be well moisturized and lightly scented with a hint of roses.  My other options include the Derm Organic Hand & Body Lotion, and Kiehl’s Creme De Corp.

Foundation: Lately, I’ve been using my MAC Face and Body foundation (C7).  Winter weather and indoor heating can dry out your skin.  The MAC Face and Body Foundation is hydrating, lightweight, user-friendly, and it gives my skin a nice dewy (not oily) look.  To remove some of the shine from areas I don’t want to highlight like my big ole forehead, I apply the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish or the CoverFX Matte Setting Powder (Dark).

Concealer: Whenever I need to hide my dark circles, I grab my IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer.  I use the waterproof formula, and it’s hydrating.  This concealer helps with hiding my dark circles while keeping my delicate eye area moisturized.  To cover up a blemish, my best friend is the LA Girl Pro Concealer (I use Toffee and Fawn).

Winter Beauty Staples for Nails

Hand Cream: Essence of Beauty Lemon Verbena Hand Cream. I actually love the entire Essence of Beauty body care line (review), but, the hand cream is something I tote around in my purse and I also have a tube sitting on my desk at work.

Cuticle Treatment: Avon Nail Experts Instant Gel Cuticle Remover gets rid of my dry cuticles in seconds. I apply the treatment to my cuticles, push back with an orange stick, and then follow up with clipping the dry cuticle skin, which essentially comes off by itself.

Cuticle Cream:  I’ve been using this MAVALA Penetrating Cuticle Cream for about two years now.  It’s my favorite cuticle cream to use at night.  During the winter, if I don’t take care of them, my cuticles get so dry and hard, and sometimes they peel. The MAVALA Penetrating Cuticle Cream is like magic, reversing the damage, thus leaving me with soft cuticles.  The scent, which reminds me of men’s cologne does take getting used to.

 

 

 

 

 


Which Winter Beauty Staples are a part of your arsenal?

DIY Body Scrubs: Easy to Make & Perfect for Gifting

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DIY Body Scrubs
Homemade is the best made, especially when it comes to food, drinks and sometimes skin and beauty treatments.  At least when making these things yourself you know exactly what’s going into the item your making, and it’s also cost effective. This year, to give away as Christmas gifts, I decided to make some DIY Body Scrubs.

DIY Body Scrubs make great gifts because they’re customizable, and made with love. Plus, they’re easy to make.  Besides, during the winter when people suffer from dry skin the most, a little exfoliating can bring dull skin back to it’s brighter days.  The oils used leave your skin moisturized and smelling great if using an essential oil like lavender with it.

Prior to making my DIY Body Scrubs,  I asked everyone on my list to let me know out of these scents: Vanilla Brown Sugar, Lavender, Lavender Vanilla, and Lemongrass that they would prefer.  Lavender and Lemongrass were the most popular scents chosen. Personally, I love the smell of lemongrass. It brings back memories of when I was taking private lessons at my violin teachers home;  she’d have lemongrass oil or incense burning.  It smells so good!

 

 

Gifts made with love … Chocolate chip cookie mix and lemongrass sugar scrub made by my sister Kim @makeupbykimporter @beautyandthebump. Black cake with the right amount of rum Haa… Made by my sister Shani @71atechef #handmadegiftsarethebestgifts #madewithlove #holidaygifts #DIYgifts

A photo posted by Kinda (@bksfinest73) on

Supplies for making & packaging DIY Body Scrubs

I ordered a 12-pack of 1/2 pint mason jars from Amazon (shouts out to Amazon Prime!) to package the scrubs. From Amazon, I also ordered my Lemongrass, Lavender, and Bergamot Essential Oils, Sweet Almond Oil, and Coconut Oil.  Here’s the kicker, before we moved, I had a few of the essential oils I needed to make the DIY Body Scrubs, and I think I threw them away. I had to repurchase them.  .:Womp Womp:.

I created 3″ circular labels on vistaprint, for under $2. And since it’s the holiday season, which is known for lots of baking, a lot of baking items like the sugars I’d need were on sale. For the freaking win!

Below is the base recipe for the DIY Body Scrubs I made

1 cup granulated sugar (or dark brown)

1/4 cup sweet almond oil (or coconut oil)

1 tbsp honey

10-15 drops essential oil

1 tsp Vitamin E oil

Combine all of the ingredients into a bowl, and mix well. Make sure you massage all of the ingredients evenly into the sugar. Massage is like you’re getting the knots out of your significant other’s back.  Give it some love. When you’re gifting it, you want the person using it to feel the love that went into making this lovely scrub.

Note: The consistency of the DIY Body Scrub should be that of wet sand. If it’s too dry, add more oil.  Too wet, add more sugar.


 DIY  Body Scrub Recipes

Vanilla Brown Sugar Body Scrub

1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 cup Dark Brown sugar

1/4 cup Sweet Almond Oil

1/4 cup Virgin Coconut Oil

2 tbsp Honey

1 tbsp Natural vanilla essence

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Vitamin E Oil

 

Lavender Sugar Body Scrub

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 cup Sweet Almond Oil

1 tbsp Honey

10-15 drops of Lavender Essential Oil

1 tsp Dry Lavender pods (they smell so good!)

1 tsp Vitamin E Oil

 

DIY Body Scrub Lavender
Lavender Vanilla Sugar Body Scrub

1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 cup Sweet Almond Oil

1 tbsp Honey

10 drops of Lavender Essential Oil

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Dry Lavender pods

1 tsp Vitamin E Oil

Lemongrass Sugar Scrub

1 cup Granulated Sugar

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/4 cup Sweet Almond Oil

10-15 drops Lemongrass Essential Oil

5-10 drops Bergamot Essential Oil

1 tsp Vitamin E Oil