Go ahead, let them think you were Born This Way

Too-Faced-BTWWe all know hyaluronic acid is incredible for the skin. But have you ever heard of it infused into a foundation? If you’re at all into makeup like I am, and love coming to spiffykerms on Tuesday’s for… Beauty Talk Tuesday, you might already know that Too Faced Cosmetics has released a new foundation called Born This Way. It comes in 12 shades for you to choose from, with 6 more launching this fall. I heard that it was comparable to my wedding day foundation, Estee Lauder Double Wear. Now, I have a fond place in my heart for that foundation and it is up on a pedestal with the Dior Hydra Life BB Cream.

Born-This-Way-FoundationDo I think Too Faced Born This Way and Estee Lauder Double Wear are on the same page? Well, I think they’re in the same family. More like Too Faced is the little sister to Estee Lauder’s foundation. Both fantastic products, but I wouldn’t say it’s a duplicate.

Natural-and-Light-BeigeLeft to right swatches: Natural Beige, Light Beige.

Back to the hyaluronic acid talk for a quick minute. Don’t be wary of the word hyaluronic acid, as it’s not harmful to the skin regardless of it having the word “acid” in there. Preferably speaking, I think the word acid should be eliminated from that word altogether, but that’s besides the point. Hyaluronic acid is commonly used in skincare, moreso than makeup. It keeps moisture into your skin which then adds fullness and adds that youthful appearance — because, hello hydration. Keep drinking that water you guys. Any skin type, even oily, can benefit from hyaluronic acid — look that ingredient in your serums and moisturizer, especially if you have dry skin.

Too Faced Born This Way foundation is a trio of hyaluronic acid, coconut water (!!!) and alpine rose (which brightens the skins appearance) and is a lightweight yet medium to full coverage foundation that glides onto the skin. Something I look for in a foundation, as I have dry skin and don’t want to be re-applying or having it cling to any dry patches. I’ve applied it using both a beauty blender sponge, and with a foundation brush, both have given me coverage that I’ve been pleased with.

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TooFaced-CandlelightCheck out my entire look below, where I also try out the Too Faced Melted Lipstick in the colour Melted Peony, and the Candlelight Glow translucent powder, also by the same brand.

1-41. Bobbi Brown Extra Eye Repair Cream: My favourite extra hydrating and extra thick eye cream. You should keep your under eye area hydrated! Do you? :)

2. Philosophy Hope In A Jar: A lightweight yet hydrating and moisturising face cream I have been using for years. Depending on my skins needs I swap between the Hope In A Jar, or the Full Of Promise both by philosophy,

3. Too Faced Born This Way Foundation: I applied the foundation in the colour Natural Beige with a damp beauty blender sponge for flawless, yet a luminous and dewy finish to the skin.

4. Dior Fix It: This is a new 2-in-1 prime and conceal for your face, eyes or lips. In this case, I used it under my eyes to brighten them up and cover any dark circles.

5-75. Sonia Kashuk Undetectable Cream Bronzer in Warm Tan: If it comes in a cream product formula, you betcha I am trying it out. This Warm Tan cream bronzer only works well when I have a nice summer tan going on, otherwise it can look a little orange on the skin. Luckily, I applied a light coat self-tanner the night before.

6. Dior Brow Styler in Universal Brown: Quickly becoming a holy grail in my makeup bag. This brown pencil is perfect for anyone new to filling in their eyebrows, a little stiff but still applies colour easily and beautifully with ease.

7. MAC Paint in Bare Canvas: This is a skin primer I like to use on my eyelids to even out any redness or veins that may appear. It’s absolutely perfect for a base for oily eyelids (like I have) for prepping them for eyeshadow, as it doesn’t crease and makes the eyeshadows appear bright and vibrant once applied on the skin. However, considering I don’t wear eyeshadow often, I like to use the Bare Canvas Paint on its own to simply even out my eyelid skin.

8-108. Too Faced Candlelight: To set everything in place I used this soft illuminating translucent powder to blur any pores and to make the foundation, concealer and bronzer stay put for the day. This setting powder has gold flecks in it (states that it has real gold in it), which adds a bit of radiance to the skin, making it appear glowy and light. It’s great, especially since I don’t like to powder my face because I prefer a dewier finish to my dry skin, but I’m lovin’ this! However, the packaging could use a bit of an upgrade, it works fine — it just doesn’t look high end. I’m being nit-picky though.

9. Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Melted Peony: This is my first time trying a melted lipstick before, and it can be applied as lightly or as heavily as you want, just layer it up and intensify the colour that way. This is a gorgeous, easy to wear baby pink colour — which I’d like to think is quite flattering on my skintone. I know this is a popular lip product, have you tried it? If you have, I’d love to know your favourite shade as I’d like to get a few more!

10. Dior Blush Cream Stick in Rosewood: Polish off your look with a bit of colour to the cheeks. This is a new cream blush stick from Dior, which recently released in their Fall 2015 collection. You can see me talk about it more in this YouTube video collaboration I did with my friend Megan.

The finished look, a natural but full coverage foundation. After-Too-Faced-Foundation

If you want to see a step-by-step video of me applying this entire look, I walk you through the steps visually, explaining it all.

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Exploring Coffee Shops: Sightglass, San Francisco

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Sightglass-coffeeMegan and I scoped out a super cool coffee shop when she was living here in San Francisco, so needless to stay we stuck around a while and snapped endless amounts of photos together. Sightglass is one beautiful spot to grab a delicious coffee made from house-roasted beans served along with baked goods in a bi-level, industrial space.

Sightglass-orderLove the vibe of this place. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing (naturally). But the ambiance was just wicked here. Huge open space, lofty type feel, perfect to warm  up your belly with some delicious coffee. Or in my case, iced coffee. Sightglass is an independent, sibling-owned coffee company in San Francisco.

Sightglass-coffee-beansThey take trips to Columbia to source their coffee beans, and spend time on the ground, at farm level with their producers; come back and write about their experience on their own Sightglass blog. Wild experiences in all sorts of countries I can only dream about visiting. I mean, nothing is really holding us back, but you know what I mean.

Sightglass-coffee-makingIt’s its own roastery, too. I need to spend more time here.

SF-SightglassImagine working remotely here. Love the rustic loft feel it has, especially upstairs where everyone seemed to be chatting or working quietly on their laptops.

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Sightglass-upstairsClearly, I couldn’t stop taking photos when Megan and I popped in for a visit a few months back.

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Sightglass
270 7th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

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Dior Fix It 2-in-1 Prime + Conceal

Dior Fix It 2-in-1 Prime & Conceal for Face Eyes & LipsAlthough not launching for another 2.5 weeks, coming out September 1 you better feast your eyes on this new product launch from Dior. It’s called the Dior Fix It 2-in-1 prime and conceal, for your face, eyes, and lips. I have talked about it on YouTube, and instagramm’ed plenty a image showing it. I can’t get enough of it. Side note, why is it called a 2-in-1 rather than a 3-in-1? I mean, face eyes AND lips. Thinking out loud here :)

Dior Fix It 2-in-1 Prime & Conceal for Face Eyes & LipsIf you’re on the lookout for a concealer that is crease-less under the eye area, than this one’s for you. I don’t like to use it on my lips because for one, I’m not a lip-product wearer on the regular.

Dior Fix It in shade 003 darkFix It claims to cover blemishes, pigmentation, redness all while illuminating the skin, but I much prefer it to be an under eye concealer and that’s that. I have one red dot on my left cheek, and it conceals it lightly, but not completely. Speaking of showing you how it works, have you seen mine and Megan’s YouTube collaboration where I apply two shades of the Fix It concealer?

Dior Fix It 2-in-1 Prime & Conceal for Face Eyes & Lips in shade 003 Dark The formula isn’t as creamy as the Cle de Peau concealer stick that will forever and always be my holy grail product, but that price point isn’t for everyone. So for something thirty bucks cheaper, I would definitely opt for this one.

Packaging for Dior Fix It 2-in-1 Prime & Conceal for Face Eyes & Lips Plus, love the packaging — twist up from a tube? What could be easier? Concealers that come in a foundation-like packaging drive me batty. I much prefer to swipe on, blend and go. No spillage either, since it’s a creamy concealer stick.

Swatches of Dior Fix It 2-in-1 Prime & Conceal for Face Eyes & Lips Fix-It is not a drying product, and it lasts about a full work day for me, and that is without setting it with any powder (I’m not a fan of powders, since I love a dewy look to the skin).

3 shades of Dior Fix It 2-in-1 Prime & Conceal for Face Eyes & LipsI use both the 001 light, and 002 medium for the under eye area. Medium to cover, and light to brighten. However, that’s me being a bit high maintenance, you surely don’t need both in your life. One is definitely enough! But I wanted to play around to see how they perform.

Dior's Fix It in Prada bagThink you’ll be picking one of these up when they launch on September 1?

Dior PR sent me the Fix It concealers for consideration. Opinions are my own. 

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