My Essentials Monday Part 2: L'Oreal Skin Genesis and Garnier Skin Renew

This morning I talked about a new essential of my routine, Juice Beauty Antioxidant Serum but now I wanted to share with you my regular skincare routines, the ones I've been using for a while and loving. Unfortunately the products are discontinued but I've had good luck tracking them down on Makeup Alley and at discount stores. To me they're pretty easy to find and definitely worth it in fact I already have a backup of a couple of the products.

Garnier Nutritioniste is an awesome brand that I highly recommend. They have a lot of products still in stores but my favorite, Skin Renew Daily Regenerating Serum, has been discontinued. I'm not really sure why, I love the stuff. I can't deny how good it smells, so fruity and sweet without being overpowering. I love it. Also, the texture of this product is amazing. It's a little thicker than other serums but goes on like butter. It sinks right into my skin and magically leaves me fairly matte. It leaves my skin feeling like silk and doesn't clog my pores or feel heavy. It's absolutely perfect, I don't even need to add another layer on top, it's that great. I should mention that adding another moisturizer and then makeup can be a little disastrous. I wouldn't recommend that but like I said you probably don't need to.

Another product that I can't live without is L'Oreal Skin Genesis SPF 15 Day Lotion. this one also smells like heaven but is more of a floral scent that doesn't sting my sensitive skin even in the middle of the winter. This product hydrates my skin and leaves it feeling powdery soft. I think it sinks in even faster than the Garnier and doesn't require another layer to quench my skin. It's also light enough to wear in the summer but hydrating enough for the winter. If I need a little extra moisture I just layer on something else on top with absolutely no issue.

Every Monday for the forseeable future I will be featuring my favorite products, my essentials if you will. If there's a product category you'd like to see me cover just let me know and I'll be happy to feature it just for you.

L'Oreal Color of Hope Line

We all see the abundance of pink breast cancer awareness stuff popping up in stores in October but there is another woman's cancer that deserves a little bit of attention. So much focus is put on breast cancer that sometimes it seems like other types of cancer don't get enough attention, therefore preventing early detection. L'Oreal has quietly been supporting Ovarian Cancer research for years but it seems their September release dates don't get as much as attention as all that pink in October. Take a look at this gorgeous collection and start your shopping list now, you won't regret it. This is just a sampling of the color selection, you need to check out the site to check out each color.

Quite a few years ago I purchased the Color of Hope blush and I still have that sucker, the perfect mauve that seriously flatters everyone. It's one of the few low shimmer formulas that I wear. Not only are you getting a great product but you're supporting a great cause at the same time. L'Oreal will donate a $1 for every item purchased from their Color of Hope collection of glosses, shadows, lipsticks and nail polishes to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. That's a lot better than the 10% a lot of companies donate when you purchase other products, especially considering the great prices for this collection.

I'll be picking up the silver Mystery nail polish for sure and I'm definitely going to be checking out the lippies. I love the neutral light pink Colour Riche lipstick and I think it would be flatting on anyone and the pinky-nude Infallible lipgloss is exactly the shade to pair with smoky eyes. What do you think? What will you pick up?

Jergen's Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer & L'Oreal Sublime Bronze One Day Tint

Every weekend we talk about how to protect yourself from the sun but what if you want a little color? Personally I've decided to embrace the pale, frankly, no matter what I do I can't get any color on my legs and the rest of my body just freckles. I'm just as prone to bouts of wanting color as the rest of you. No matter your ethnicity it's pretty rare to find a woman (and lots of men) who don't want a little more color this time of year. I'm going to talk about two products that can help you get color the responsible way.


First up is Jergen's Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer. OMG do I love foam. There are pictures of me as a child playing with foaming soap in the bathtub, probably a dozen or so from different occasions. I still have that fascination! This product is fun and the foam is easier to spread than a lotion or gel and has a quicker dry time than other self tanner formulas. I've used Jergen's Natural Glow products with moderate success. I'm such a klutz that I can't do self-tanner without screwing it up somehow either with missed spots or stripes of excess color. Since I'm so pale many self tanners leave me orange so gradual tanners are the way to go. You build up color naturally so that you don't go from zero to Oompa Loompa in 3 hours flat, perfect for those chicas who want to fool their friends.


If you're even more pressed for time, or are an uber-klutz like me, I can't recommend L'Oreal Sublime Bronze One Day Tint enough! I previously review this product here but I love it so much I figured it was worth mentioning again. This stuff is like a miracle in a bottle for pale girls like me. It's subtle but noticeable and so easy to use once you learn the tricks. I recommend wearing gloves because this stuff sets fast and will most likely stain your palms without them. I like to add a layer of lotion to both legs and then apply a little bit of this product on top with the lotion still wet. This way it blends into legs better than it would on dry skin (trust me!) and you can easily rub in until absorbed. Voila, your legs will look lovely. Sometimes I like to add a little shimmer on top and a stripe down the center of legs is said to give the illusion that they are smaller for whatever it's worth. This product is great for any part of the body except the face but I mostly use it on my legs because they're so pale!

The best part about both of these products is that they are so inexpensive and easy to find at most mass-market stores like Walmart and Target as well as drugstores.

L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara

Sometimes I wonder how companies figure out ways to make things more complicated than they need to be. Who needs an extra step in their routine or something that is more complicated than other options out there? L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion Mascara is just one of those things, really. How hard is it to mascara-ize? Well, L'Oreal figured out how to make it about 20x harder. I know this isn't a new one but I thought I'd share my experiences with you anyway.

This one is all about the wand and honestly, it's hard to get past. Really, there is no way to make a mascara more complicated than this one does. This is a ball shaped wand like Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara, with tiny little spikes all over the place. Wow, talk about a violent way to do mascara. It's frightening, you can't even get close to the lashes without worrying about killing yourself via the eyeballs. Not only that but I ended up with globs of mascara in certain places and hardly any in other places. It's impossible to spread out and don't even get me started on the lack of length.

I can't even attest to the color and wearability of this product, I couldn't get past the application. It's strange to even think that something as simple as mascara can be so seriously flawed in both thought and application!

While the price is right, the only real use I could see for this would be for those with pale lashes since you can hit them from the top a lot easier than you could with a regular wand. Does anyone have any experience with this product? Are there special tricks that I'm missing? What did you think of it?

L'Oreal Colour Riche le Gloss

Yesterday I shared with you one of my all time favorite cheap lippies, CoverGirl Wet Slicks Fruit Spritzers, but today I'm dying to talk about a new contender, L'Oreal Colour Riche leGloss.

This one is around the same price point as my favorite from CoverGirl, yet as you can see in the promotional pictures, it appears to be more pigmented than others on the market. I'm sure you know how frustrating it is when you get a pretty baby pink or light peach gloss and get it home and it's essentially clear on your lips. Well, the swatches around the blogosphere prove this is not the case with this one. It comes in 16 shades and they smell like caramel. I'm sure I've mentioned it before but I don't really screw around with glosses that have "no" flavor, most of the time they just taste like icky chemicals that I'd rather not have near my mouth.

I've been a fan of L'Oreal Colour Juice glosses for a while, they were close to the first of their kind released in drugstores that were touted as much for their shine and color as their scent and flavor. I think I had pretty much every one. This time they come in a more sophisticated package for all those big girls out there that still want to rock a fruity lip. Mind you Colour Juices came out back in the early 2000s when lipgloss wasn't nearly as mainstream with the older populations, now everyone and their mother (literally!) rocks the gloss.

What really gets me with this one is the beautiful ads. I'm not usually a sucker for advertisements but how could I not be with this one? Beautiful ladies, Jennifer Lopez (how sad about her divorce, huh?) and Laetitia Casta totally rock le Gloss.

L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base (Primer)

I've become a primer girl, something I never thought I'd be but here I am. Ever since I tried my first one two years ago I've become addicted. Since I'm currently unemployed and rarely leave the house except for trips to the grocery store or to family functions, I admittedly don't use it every day. In fact, I really only use it for special occasions, long days or when I know photos are going to be taken. If you've never tried a makeup primer you should know that its main responsibility is to soften flaws and help your other makeup adhere to your skin better and this one did just that when I tried it out at a long family function last Saturday.

Technically this product is called Studio Secrets Professional Magic Perfecting Base but I thought that would be confusing if you weren't looking at the product. Clearly, it's not a foundation which I typically think of when I hear makeup referred to as base. I also thought that since the foundation is a souffle that the consistency of this primer would be lighter but it's right up there with Smashbox Photo Finish Light, not a bad thing at all. Also, a little goes a long way. I tried the sample that I've seen in at least three of my magazines and even though the foundation sample barely covered half of my face the same size primer sample did the whole thing. I thought that was amazing and that the jar would last forever, always a plus in my book.

I'm not an oily girl (although you wouldn't know that by looking at me now, see my review tomorrow for THAT explanation) but this primer is known to be mattifying and I can see why. My face felt soft and satiny without any of the telltale grease that usually makes it feel this good. My foundation glided right on and I had no trouble with peeling like I do some other primers. You know when you finish applying your makeup and run your fingers across it one last time and end up with rolled balls of product? I didn't have that with this one, not at all.

One thing I realized about this primer that wouldn't work for me (the only reason I wouldn't consider purchasing it) is that it comes in a jar that you dip your fingers in. Now I'm not known for being the most sanitary person in the world but that just seems like a breeding ground for germs to me. That and the fact that I can't stand dipping my hands in a jar and ending up with half the product under my nails instead of on my face.

Quickly, I wanted to let you know that I also tried the sample of the MagicSmooth Souffle makeup and again, as it comes in jar form, I wouldn't purchase it for myself. This foundation has a really sheer coverage but it blurred my imperfections without really covering them up, great for my fellow freckle-faced girls who want to proudly show them off. I applied it to half of my face and after a few hours (probably around 5-6 hours) you couldn't really tell which side was wearing foundation and which side was not, probably why they market the primer and the foundation together. I have a feeling that the smooth consistency of MagicSmooth Souffle allows this one slip off your face quicker, even without the hot and humid temperatures sure to come in a month or so. It did make my face feel soft and hydrated without making me shiny which is great for any skin texture.

How do these products rate to you? Have you tried them? I'm so glad to see so many products like this in drugstores now, letting those who wouldn't even know where to begin in Sephora have a chance to experience a makeup primer. All I can picture is my mother saying "what's a Sephora?" Show her to the makeup section in the drugstore and she's like a ravenous beast.

Beyonce L'Oreal Feria

A few weeks back I went to town talking about all the amazing L'Oreal ads I'd seen recently, how much I love them and how great the marketing behind them is. They're beautiful photography and really fun to encounter in one of hundreds of magazines I read.

Well, this ad caught my eye for an entirely different reason. Beyonce is a beautiful woman, her Sasha Fierce look in particular resonates with me. She's glamour personified and in her regular, every day life her skin makes me envious although she looks so completely different than her on-stage alter ego. However, nothing about this Feria ad makes me envy Beyonce's hair. Besides the fact that her hair is lusciously full and thick there's nothing to love. The color, frankly, washes her out. It doesn't work, at all. Having basic knowledge of hair color I know that when making a drastic change you have to use a filler shade that comes in between your shades. The tone of this color is grayish-greenish, exactly what happens when you try to go from a dark shade to a blonde or vice versa.

I can't not mention how much I really like Feria. As a bottle redhead I have to say how much I appreciate the bright, multi-dimensional shades of red that the dye infuses my hair with. These colors always come out so bright and showstopping without drying out my hair. The price is right and if you are confident coloring your hair at home do not shy away from trying this line just because of Beyonce's lackluster results in the ads.

L'Oreal Spring 2011

You may have been noticing, like I certainly have, an upcropping of tons of new L'Oreal ads this spring, new spokesmodels, new products, new everything. I, for one, am excited about it. L'Oreal's an affordable line with their hands on the pulse.

I cannot get over how gorgeous Jennifer Lopez looks in the EverSleek ads. Wow. Her hair is something to covet anyway but these gorgeous caramel highlights take it to a new level. Then there's haircolor ads with Gwen Stefani and her gorgeous platinum locks and Evangeline Lilly and her pretty coffee colored coif. You couldn't get much more different than both of these ladies but they both represent the L'Oreal brand perfectly and have the amazing hair to pull of the ads. I'd kill for a mane like that.


There's no doubt that L'Oreal makes some killer haircare products but you may not know that their makeup line is just as impressive. If you haven't given it a fair shot because it's at the drugstore you might just want to rethink that. The Gwen Stefani and Jennifer Lopez lipstick ads have me wanting to run out and buy all the red lipstick I can find even though I swear I'll never wear it out of the house. You can't get better marketing than that. And even though I've heard less than stellar reviews of it I really want to try The One Sweep Eyeshadow because of the gorgeous ad with Freida Pinto that I can't seem to find online to show you anywhere! I hope you've seen it because it's gorgeous. This shadow is revolutionary because it contains three shades and a sweeper brush that picks up all the colors in the proper order to give you an amazing smokey eye.

I hope to continue to see some great new ads and, in turn, great new products from L'Oreal.

Samy Fat Foam & L'Oreal Sublime Mousse Hair Color

I'm a haircolor junkie who's lazy if that makes any sense. I've been a redhead since I was 18, since before I met my man, in fact, he's never seen me with my natural hair color. Right now I've decided to grow it out since it's impossible for me to color over the red on my own (hello! I colored it black {big mistake, btw} and I still had red tips). Of course, less than a year into this process I found my first gray hair but it looks like a fluke because I haven't found another. Phew! Now I'm ready to color my hair a shade closer to my natural color and add caramel highlights, a good way to grow out the roots without losing all my length. I've already chopped off 6 inches, I can't bear to part with more of it.

I've been curious about mousse haircolor for a while, since I saw Fat Foam at Walmart six months or so ago. However, I didn't see any red colors that would work for me (there are 18 shades) so I passed. Then there's L'Oreal Sublime Mousse. This line comes in 12 shades, all very natural and hard to go wrong. I do believe these would be amazing for anyone who is scared to color their hair on their own, all you do is rub it in and work it through the hair, it's foolproof. L'Oreal even claims on the box it's as easy as shampooing.

When coloring your hair stick with 1-2 shades lighter or darker than your own haircolor, goofs are much harder to notice this way and you won't end up with an unnatural color for your skintone. Once you become more experience you can try for different shades.

I can't wait to grow the red out of my hair, I really can't. I have visions of gowing lighter and lighter until I'm blonde, trying all the colors along the way and deciding where I'd like to stay for a while. My hair is naturally dark brown but with my fair skintone I would love to see what I'd look like with dark blonde hair or even light brown highlighted hair. We'll see. I'll be sure to update you on my color when my lazy butt gets around to coloring and highlighting my hair. Wish me luck!