KissyFace TV | Claudia Stevens Facial Prep Foundation Base Video Review

Here's the video I mentioned before.

I'm getting a little more comfortable with the camera so more of my sarcastic, goofy personality is coming through, which I'm happy about.  It'll only be a matter of time till I get rid of my ummmms too.



Enjoy the rest of your day!

Much Love & Many Blessings,
B. Pierre

KissyFace Approved? | Claudia Stevens Facial Prep Foundation Base

Happy Thursday,

Back for my final review this week, which is the Claudia Stevens Facial Prep Foundation Base. I've used Claudia Stevens in the past before and th experience was quite favorable.

KissyFace Approved?| Black Radiance Foundations

It looks like I'm on a KissyFace Approved? blog rampage. I've got a few more things that I want to share with you all. I've made a few purchases recently and I want to get in the habit of giving you my opinions on products and sharing my thoughts with you on them.

About two weeks ago, I had a photo shoot that I had needed some products for.  I didn't want to spend too much money but I wanted something of good quality. Plus I wanted something that are women of color friendly so I choose to try Black Radiance at Walmart.

I had been curious about what they had to offer in the past so I thought it was good timing to try them out. I ended picking up five items. Some were hits others were misses.

KissyFace Approved? |Nivea: A Kiss of Smoothness

My trusty lip balm pouch. Alway gotta have options

Evening Lovelies!

I'm back with another review post, like I mentioned in my previous posts, right up there with mascaras,  lipgloss/ lip balms were my favorite makeup products too. Even today I have a small pouch of various lip products that I carry with me at all times.

KissyFace Approved?| L'oreal Telescopic Mascara in Carbon Black

Morning Lovelies,

I'm back with another "KissyFace Approved?" post. When I was younger my go-to makeup picks were lip gloss, eyeliner and mascara. I just loved the effects that these three little things had on my face. But more in particular I was obsessed with mascara. With all the various kinds available, promising different things, I just couldn't get enough of them. I was always trying to find and explore the options that were available.

And today is no different.

I purchased this a few weeks ago from Wal-mart. Unfortunately, I didn't keep the receipt to give you a price but it was fairly inexpensive.

When I popped open the tube, the brush was already making this look to be something promising.

REVIEW
Because I have small eyes, I knew that this would be perfect to really catch all of my hairs and really allow me to get in on my lashes in order to get the full benefit of the mascara. The "bristles" are more like plastic teeth instead of the traditional bristles of a mascara.

So to truly give this mascara a go, I applied it in layers in order to see how far it could go. Here are what my lashes look like sans mascara.

It's nothing to get too exited about but they're mine. LOL  But as you can see I can use the help of mascara to bring my lashes to life.

On the first application, I was pretty amazed. The carbon black really helped my lashes to pop in comparison to them in their natural state.

I had no clumping and the lashes are separated which I really like. Nothing like seeing clumpy lashes. That really makes me gag. SMH  But I didn't really gain that much length, which is something I'm always looking for in a mascara more than anything else.

But it was on the second application that it really delivered on length.

It's like night and day between the first and second application. The lashes are still separated and nothing else is amiss either.

And because things were going so well, I attempted at a third application. It wouldn't hurt right?

Same satisfied story. Because of the teeth I'm able to really comb through the lashes and prevent them from clumping. Had it been a traditional brush, I might have ran into a clumping disaster by the third application. It just kept getting better and better on each go-around.

THE VERDICT

And now the question stands, is it KissyFace Approved?

Well, if you couldn't tell the answer is YES! It's become my go to mascara. I love what it does for my lashes. The carbon black and the bristles made this a favorite for me.  So, this will definitely stay in rotation.

Do you lovelies have a mascara of choice? Brands you recommend?

Let me know I'd love to explore even further.

Till the next post!

Much Love & Many Blessings,
B. Pierre

FTC Disclosure: L'oreal had no in on this review. It's all me. Mascara was purchased with my dollars. =)

KissyFace Approved? | EOS Lip Balm

Long time no blog! Yes, I know. How typical. So instead of boring you with the details lets press on with the some newness.

In one of my previous posts I introduced you to this little beauty.

As you you can see, It's been worn done to the little mound that you see before you.

The one I purchased was mint. So what did I think?

I loved it! It's applied with no problem and it left a tingly mint feeling on my lips and tasted minty too. It was really moisturizing and really helped me out during those dry lip emergency moments. And what I was surprised about was the length of time that it stayed on my lips. Even in the midst of eating and  no matter the weather, it lasted for hours. I wasn't constantly reapplying, which was a definite plus.

It was even a great conversation starter. Every time I pulled it out people were questioning as to what it was because of it's odd shape.

This is definitely KissyFace Approved. And I'm definitely going to be adding it to my kit.

In fact, I went out and purchased the honeydew scented/flavored one. I like this one even more because of the scent. So, if your ever in the market for a lip balm this is definetely one to consider. =)

Much Love & Many Blessings,
B. Pierre

P.S. Find me on Facebook, on Twitter and YouTube.

*FTC Disclosure:  These were purchased with my own funds

and were not provided  by the manufacturer for consideration.

KissyFace Approved? | Mehron Barrier Spray Fixer and Sealer

The best thing about makeup is that it's not permanent. And the worst thing about makeup is, well, it's not permanent. In my experiences, I haven't found anything to make my face makeup last. 

For my eyelids, I have my trusty Urban Decay Primer Potion. But for my face powder and blush, I haven't had much success. So, I decided to try a sealer. Enkore ( YouTube makeup guru) has a great series on refresher sprays, fixers and sealers that teaches you on setting and fixing makeup. Before I watched his video, I only used M.AC.'s Fix+ to give me a less powdery look after I apply my mineralize skinfinish and powder blush. But that's all that it was good for. It didn't help my face makeup last.

So, I picked up Mehron's Barrier Spray Fixer and Sealer

It claims that it is: a moisture resistant coating for setting cream and cake makeup. Also, provides protective underbase before application of prosthetics and adhesives.

And the directions stated: lightly mist from approximately eight inches directly onto skin or over makeup. Cream makeup should be set with powder before applying spray.

For me, I only wanted it to seal my  skinfinish and blush. Now I bought it a while back but never really started playing with it until this summer, so I've had a really long time to use it both on my self and other. And let's say it was less than stellar.

REVIEW

Even thought it cost me less than $9.00 for 1 fl. oz. Flat out, it sucked. 

Over the summer and in the previous weeks I've used it in multiple scenarios and each time it failed. Daytime use? FAIL. Night out? FAIL. And I even used it on my bridal models on Sunday in an indoor environment. You would have thought it would have worked, right? Again, NO.  The girls weren't running around sweating or in a hot environment and it still didn't live up to its name.

To make things worse, it stunk. I don't know how to necessarily describe the smell but each time I went to spray it, I wasn't looking forward to it because of the smell. It's like a medicinal and alcoholic smell at the same time, if the makes sense.

And another negative point was that it didn't spray as I fine mist. It would sometimes land on my face kinda splotchy. I also had to spray multiple times to cover my face.

THE VERDICT

KissyFace Approved? NO WAY! Can't you tell? lol I had not one good word to say about it except the size of the bottle was cute and that's about. So, I'm still on the look out for a stellar sealer. 

And to learn more about various sprays, definitely check out Enkore's Videos. It's a two part series, Facial Sprays 101: Part 1 and Facial Sprays 101: Part 2. Although they're a bit long, they were highly detailed and I learned a lot. Just thought I would share.

Much Love & Blessings,

B. Pierre

KissyFace Approved: E.L.F. Shader Brush

Yesterday, I mentioned the three eye shadow brushes that I purchased from E.L.F. and they are amazing. I'll definitely be adding more to my kit.

They pick up color really well and only cost $1.

KissyFace Approved? No doubt about it. For such an economical price and great ability to pack on color, there's no reason for it not to.

And after cleaning my brushes. I added them to the brush belt.


Aren't they purrty? :-) lol

It looks a little empty at the moment, which means I definitely need more brushes or is that another excuse to go shopping? lol.

Have a safe weekend and Happy Fourth of July!

XOXO and many blessings,
B. Pierre

P.S. I've got some great details to share next week so stay tuned. I'm uber excited.

Kit Building 101: Kit Tested, KissyFace Artistry Approved

Well, I had the last interview and it went really well. But before that final interview I tested two new items to see whether or not they'd make appropriate additions to my kit.

With the New MAC Style Warriors collection that recently came out I was really interested in their Lustre Drops. But after getting a tip from Reflections of Beauty that there was a dupe available, instead of dishing out $18.50, I paid less then $9.00 at Wal-mart (I can't recall the exact retail price, sorry.) for the comparable.
I mixed a little with the foundation, more so 3 parts foundation to 1 part bronzing liquid.
After mixing the two I applied it to my face.

Sorry for the overexposure. I'm figuring out that I'm in
need of a new camera esp. with all the make-up pics
I've been taking as of late.

The picture doesn't do the outcome justice at all. The glow that it created was amazing! I spent a little too much time angling my face to the light watching how it would catch the sunlight from my window. lol

KissyFace Approved?: Definitely. But it only comes in one color. MAC has three options. I plan on purchasing Pink Rebel from MAC just to add variety to my kit.

Tip: You have to be very careful when mixing it in with your moisturizer or foundation that it doesn't over power your look. Incorrect proportions can have you looking like an over-bronzed dame, unless that's the look you're trying to achieve.

My application wasn't done with my handy fingers like usual but with a new brush I picked up. Personally, I am not a fan of the traditional foundation brush and have been on the hunt for a better alternative. And this past weekend I found it. Initially, I purchased a $34 Air Brush from Sephora. I must admit that it was uber-soft but I never got to use it, with good reason.
After hitting up Target and browsing through their Sonia Kashuk brushes, instantly I wanted to head back to Sephora and return the recent purchase. I saw a Sonia Kashuk Duo-Fibre Stipling Brush. And get this it was only $11.99! I could almost get three Sonia's for one Sephora, so that was a no-brainer, right back to Sephora the Air Brush went.

But no regrets, I was pretty impressed with the alternative.


KissyFace Approved? Yes, 10x over. For such an economical price, I'll definitely be adding at least three or four of them to my kit. The bristles worked effectively and blended my foundation effortlessly.

So now I'm slowly but surely crossing things of off the get-these-things-for-my-kit list. Thus far my additions have been bargain finds but I don't necessarily think an item has to be expensive to get the job done. Great quality can definitely be found at affordable prices. Tomorrow I'm getting a package in from E.l.f. Cosmetics. I'll be sharing the details for it next week. It's just more items for my kit :-)

Have a great Thursday all! As for me I'll be attached to the library doing some much needed studying.

XOXO & many blessings,
B. Pierre

P.S. And a little fun fact about me is that I love painting my nails. Whenever I look down at my nails after a polish change or design upgrade it just brings a smile to my face. I did this on Memorial Day. I've been antsy to do polka-dotted nails for a while and I finally did. And the little black dot is a pen mark. I was being impatient and wanted to test if it was dry but didn't bother fixing it. Aside from that, they came out pretty nice, right?