Pretty In Pink's BEST OF 2009 LIST!!! PART ONE.

All right guys, are you ready? I'm going to talk about my favorites in different categories that were released this year. These are products I had the pleasure to try out and found them keepers and HG for life.

Face Products



1 &2 Make Up For Ever All Mat Primer and Duo Mat Powder Foundation I have been using the Make Up For Ever HD foundation for a long time, but I never realized how amazing their matte face products are. I'm in love with both the primer and the powder. They have amazing setting powers, and it keeps my HD make up looking fresh and beautiful all day. I hardly need to touch up, ever. Except during the very hottest days of summer. Now that we're into the drier season, I don't need to touch up at all.

3 Laura Mercier's Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer. I've been shying away from full on make up days as I enter a busy busy year in my life this fall. For days when I simply do not have time, this has been perfect. It stays on, it provides a tiny bit of coverage, and keeps my face luminous without making me look oily or like a disco ball. It's pricy for what it is, but it does come with a ton of product (1.7 oz for $42).

4 Make Up For Ever HD Foundation I've been using this since last year, but it remains a fond favorite. It provides tons of coverage, and a little goes a long way. It applies evenly with my hands to warm it up, and it requires very little work to achieve a flawless but natural look. People say that can't even tell I have make up on when I wear this alone.

5 MAC Mineral Skin Finish in Refined This is a lovely product that is the perfect highlighter. It provides very little pigmentation, and in fact applied with the 188 or 187, just gives me the right candlelight glow. Compared to other MSFs we've had from MAC and compared to the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick powders, this is a gem and much more subtle and suitable for daily use.

Cheek Products


I'm known among my friends to be absolutely blush obsessed, and here are my favorite releases this year.

1 Dior Harmonie Blush in Coral Riviera and Rose Brazilia The perfect blush. No really. It lends life and warmth to the skin, and both colors have their own beautiful qualities. I've done a more complete review here.

2 Benefit SugarRush Powder Oh my gosh, not only does this work great as a cheek powder to highlight and to give a luminous pink-peach flush, it's also a great all over powder, and the lavender part works great as a color for the lids on a "me but better" day where I just want to give my eyes a bit of glow but very little color. It is perfect. I got this late in the year but it is becoming a favorite favorite.

3 Bobbi Brown's Illuminating Bronzer in Maui and Antigua I love this powder a lot. It's great for easy days, and it's effortless, especially with Bobbi's brush. There's not much to say about it except that it gives me color and glow all in one and makes me feel like it's summer still.

4 MAC Blush in Blushbaby This is not a new release, but rather a new discovery for me. It is just this amazing my-cheeks-but-better look. It has little to no shimmer, and it is finely milled and stays on forever, and looks like a kind of dusty pink that's so natural and perfect on all skin types.

5 NARS Orgasm Every year Orgasm is still a favorite. There's not much to say about it except that it's a universally flattering gorgeous blush and I love, love love it.

FOTD: Coastal Scents, easy soft purples and pinks.

Eyes: UDPP in Sin, Coastal Scents 88 palettes in matte and shimmer, Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Violet Ink, DiorShow Iconic and Blackout layered, MAC Blanc Type to highlight, Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Gray for brows.

Cheeks: Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzer in Maui.

Lips: The Body Shop Hemp Lip Conditioner/Balm.

Review: Bobbi Brown's Illuminating Bronzer in Maui

I never thought I'd come to love Bobbi Brown or bronzers as much as I do this summer. I saw talk of this collection really early in the blogosphere, but I wasn't that interested as I am not a huge fan of bronzers. The Bobbi brown Illuminating Bronze collection just did not draw me... or so I thought.



After reading review after review, I still wasn't convinced. It wasn't until I saw Karlysugar's swatches that I was convinced I truly and absolutely needed this product in the Antigua shade, pictured above. It is just this amazing dusty pink, and I may go back to get it yet.

When I tried both on my cheeks though, Antigua did not show up quite as well as I had hoped. The saleslady tried to talk me into Maui since it's brighter, and I am glad I listened to her, because on me, Maui is an amazing coral-bronze that is so subtle, so lovely, and perfect for the light-make-up days where I don't want to pile tons of blush on. I still can't stop thinking about Antigua though, which means I'm probably doomed to go grab that.

The packaging is awesome, classic Bobbi. It does not waste any space, but it is a wonderful compact with 9 grams of product in the hefty casing, and a wonderful wonderful big fat mirror in the compact lid. As always, very chic and simple upscale packaging from Bobbi Brown.

Now, the product.. it imparts a beautiful but natural sheen. I had thought with my oily skin tone it would not go well and because this product is so pink, I did not think I could apply it all over. However, with Bobbi's new and improved Bronzer Brush (I will review this separately), I apply two or so dabs of it (after shaking excess off) on the apples of my cheek, blending back to my temple, across my cheekbone, then use the remainder on the brush (maybe one more tap on the product) all over to contour the edges of my face. It imparts a lovely glow, and the pink actually helps even out my yellow complexion!

At $33 this is not cheap, but the texture is soft, finely-milled, and it goes on wonderfully. It is really easy to apply and just an amazing product.


I have plans to be utterly bored with my life this summer, taking Ancient Greek classes at UCLA and working my butt off at work after class. My make up will need to hold up well and be minimal. The model in this picture, in fact, is exactly what I want to look like. Bright. Happy. Well-slept. Perhaps she just came back from a walk on the beach. She certainly has that lovely sun-kissed glow.

I went on over to Bobbi Brown's website to find out how to obtain this look. This is one of my favorite things about Bobbi Brown--her looks are easy to replicate and clearly outlined on the site. Asides from basic foundation/concealer make up, the look is described thus:

1. Metallic Eyeshadow in Burnt Sugar on the lids ($20)
2. Illuminating Bronzer in Maui (hey! That's what I have! $33)
3. Mascara (I use DiorShow Iconic and Blackout, layered together)
4. Shimmer brick for the body (I just do a little bit of the regular ol' Bronze shimmerbrick on my shoulders, collar bones, and across my chest if I'm wearing something summery and low-chested).

Burnt Sugar is a lovely mid-tone brown in Bobbi's amazing metallic formula. I love it, it blends wonderfully, and it has incredible depth for just one color. It's a perfect color for those lazy days when you only want to use one product on your eyes.

I replicated this look when I got the bronzer and the eyshadow, and it's beautiful and simple and gives me that look I desire so much! With a bit of tinted moisturizer, black/brown tightlining (to open up the eyes more) and some tinted lip balm (try the L'Oreal HiP jelly balms.. delicious shades and very pigmented), I am good to go for the day. Don't forget Urban Decay Primer Potion (I have it in Sin!) if you don't want any smudges all day!

If you are minimalist kind of person, theoretically you can slap on some sunscreen, swipe on some of this product with your bronzer blush, and be good to go! Don't forget to bring your lip balm with you.

The whole thing together.. it imparts a lovely glow on my cheeks!
The perfect make up without looking like make up look.

The Bottom Line: If you're looking for the perfect pick-me-up product to make you look bright, well-slep, happy and awake this summer (without actually feeling any of the above), this is it.

Antigua review forthcoming.

Top 5: Face Brushes

Welcome to the first of my top 5 series, where I will tell you 5 of my favorite products of a category or type.

Today, I'm here to tell you about my favorite face brushes. This is kind of a lumped review of my favorite 5 face brushes. As you can see, most of them are from MAC. There is no particular foundation brush here, because I like to use my hands and a sponge for foundation.


MAC 182

This kabuki brush is one of the best on the market. It's soft and dense and just.. ahhh. It deposits powder so evenly and amazing. I would imagine this to be amazing for mineral foundation, but I like to use it to set my foundation with powder, and also to blend out the edges of products (like blush and bronzer) to avoid harsh lines.


MAC 187

Perfect for everything. Foundation, blush, bronzer, you name it. I like it for a light sweep of more pigmented blush shades, and also to blend out edges. I used to use this for foundation and it was the only thing that made MAC Studio Fix Fluid with SPF15 bearable for me, before I found my HG in Make Up For Ever HD.

I also prefer this brush for lighter applications of MAC Mineralized Skin Finishes or other highlighters. If you find the brush is too big for this purchase, you can pinch the black parts to make the white part go together in a fan shape. Something about this stippling brush is just so perfect. The combination of natural and synthetic bristles is just.. ahh.

Another favorite use of mine of this brush is for cream blushes. In fact, of all my brushes, I think this is the most hardworking and multitasking. I love it so much I have TWO.


MAC 168

This ties with the 187 as my favorite brush. It has extremely AMAZINGLY OOH LA LA soft white goat hair bristles, and it has the perfect angle shape. I apply blush and bronzer with it, and I know people who even apply foundation with it flawlessly. My favorite use for this though is contouring. It is just the absolutely perfect shape to get in the hollow of my cheeks and around the edges of my face. *sighs happily*

I think I need another one of these in my life.


MAC 129

This is perfect for blush application. It has soft bristles but they're dense enough to deposit enough pigment, and it's just big enough to cover my whole cheek in one sweep so I don't have uneven application. It's also good for powder when you're in a pinch.

This is a great basic and a must have.


Bobbi Brown's New Bronzer Brush

I can wax lyrical about this brush. It is so pefect for blush OR bronzer, and it has beautiful, soft dense bristles in that lovely perfect rounded shape that somehow imparts the most perfect glow in combination with Bobbi Brown's Illuminating Bronzers. This brush is so thick and big and dense and just luxurious to use. Ahh, love.

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner

My first eyeliner was one of those automatic pencil liners by Maybelline. You know, the ones you can twist up and down. The Maybelline Unstoppable.

Thankfully, I have learned better since then. With the Maybelline I had to drag it back and forth across my lid, tugging and tugging before the color would go on! And boy, did it skip. It was impossible to create a thin, even line.. Finally, I discovered the beauty that is a gel liner.

I have used gel liners far and wide, starting with MAC Fluidline in Blitz and Glitz my first happy year in college. Gel liners were an amazing discovery for me---no tug, easy application, and super easy winged eyes with an angle liner. Everything I wanted the drugstore pencils to be.

I used Fluidline for many years with no qualms, until I one day heard the good ladies over at Specktra.net say that the Bobbi Brown gel liner is such and such, so much better, etc etc. Of course, being the Specktraette I am, I immediately sprung for it.

According to Bobbi Brown, this product is:

Awarded: "Elle" ‘Genius Award’ (April 2008), "In Style" 'Best Beauty Buy' (2008), and "Allure" ‘Reader's Choice Award’ (2008).

Our popular long-wearing eyeliner offers the precision of liquid liner and the ease of a gel-based formula.

It's awesome, as it turns out. Everyone was right. Here are some comparisons with other brand eyeliners:

- It stays put with some UDPP until the end of the day. Yesterday, for intance, I wore it for something like 17 hours and it didn't budge. At all. I have problems with MAC Fluidline in this area.
- It's really easy to remove at night, despote the way it doesn't move on your eyes normally. I like the similar look of the Urban Decay pencils but those are not as easy to remove as the Bobbi Brown.
- It doesn't skip or clump up on my brush like the L'Oreal gel liner does (though I have that one in the midnight blue color and it's gawwww-geous).
- It applies really easily, and smooth. I only have to go over the line once or twice, whereas with Fluidline I often feel like I have to scratch at my eyes forever to get the color to impart from my brush. (Same brush.)

For me, the long wear on this alone is worth the increased price tag. At $21, it's $5 dollars more than MAC Fluidline, but it comes in a variety of colors. I've only tried the matte varieties, and not the shimmer ink ones, but I have lots of faith. Bobbi Brown never fails to produce high quality (if a little boring, sometimes) items, and I highly recommend this product!

I think everyone knows what gel eyeliner looks like but I might as well post an example. Please excuse the badly applied falsies in this picture!
As much as I highly recommend this product, there's one thing I don't really use this for, and that's the waterline. For some reason it just doesn't stick to the waterline upon application as well as the Urban Decay liner pencils, but at the same time, the UD 24/7 pencils also smudge on me if I use them to line normally (not water line), but the Bobbi Brown stay put. So I keep one of each in black (or Zero, in UD language) for those purposes.

Run, not walk, to get one of these! I recommend applying them with Smashbox's bent eyeliner brush, or a small angled brush from any brand you like for a thicker line.

Another note---MAC's Blacktrack dried out on me after a few months, but my Bobbi Brown gel liner has stuck with me for over a year without a sign of drying out. Hmm.