BSB: Beauty news, makeup swatches and pictures, nail polish articles, makeup tutorials, product reviews, and how-to's from a MAC-trained makeup artist.

Radiance is back. Make Up For Ever Uplight Face Luminizer Gel hitting shelves soon...

Do you sometimes feel a bit lackluster in the Winter months? Suffer from Seasonal Skin Disorder? Want to put a bit of glow back on your lovely face and some pep in your step?

Sister, me too! Help may be coming in the gel-licious form of a new luminizer from Make Up For Ever.

Here's why I am excited enough to mention it:

1. The gel formula. Gel-style products like this are likely not going to overdose skin in creaminess, heaviness, or smothering ingredients. Read: probably even oily-skinned lasses can benefit!
2. Eight shades. Something for everyone unlike most lines, who offer maybe one or two.
3. Three finishes. "Dewy" looks to be the finest shimmer and natural, "Pearl" is probably more high-shine and "Sparkling" is likely going to be maximum radiance.
4. The formula contains over 70% water. Again, this won't smother the skin!

If you like a glowy, dewy look, Make Up For Ever Uplight Face Luminizer Gel may be your next must-have. I know I will most certainly be checking them out!

I will point out that truly luminous skin comes from being healthy and hydrated, and no gel shimmer can fake that. Make sure you're exfoliating once or twice a week and using the right moisture-bearing products for your skin type. Many of us need to step it up a notch in the Winter! Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see an article about hydrating and moisturizing!
PS: Aussie readers, I know it's Summer for you, so don't forget your SPF. :)

_via

Need to check it out: MUFE's Aqua Cream

I can't stand it. Look at those pots! What's inside? Get this: crease-proof, water-proof and budge-proof cream color that is meant for use on lips, cheeks, eyes and face.* They're super-intense colors and are long-lasting, too. I mean really. The potential for these products is endless.

The shadows contain a special blend of evaporating oils to transfer pigment spheres to skin with super strong hold, while filmogen polymers encase the pigments to seal moisture out and render them streak-proof. ^source

Make Up For Ever's new Aqua Cream Waterproof Cream Color comes in 22 shades, is only $22 and currently only available at Sephora, the MUFE store in NY.

I'd love to see them alone and as a shadow base! Can't wait to dip into the taupe, coral, peach, and purple. Have any of you tried them yet? How are they?

*Shades #5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are formulated for the Lips & Cheeks.
Shades #1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, and 22 are formulated for the Eyes & Cheeks.

Make Up For Ever - buy 3 get a free palette

Question of the day: What could make a MAC girl switch lipglosses!?

I only tag a few products as Obsessions (usually they are from Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs!). I've got a new one that falls into this category now, and I'm about to tell you about it. But first, did you find the subject line compelling? I mean, how many die-hard MAC girls walk away from Lipglass? I never thought I would - I tried Chanel Glossimers, and found them too weakly pigmented. I tried Bobbi Brown lipgloss, but thought the color selection was too poor. I even tried "the other artist line", Make Up For Ever, and returned the glosses to Sephora because they were so pale and transient (disappeared WAY to quickly!). So what could make me ignore my beloved Lipglasses for the last few weeks!?

Clinique, you have really been stepping it up lately! Now, with these Long Last Glosswear SPF 15 lip glosses, you have a new permanent customer. (Imagine me walking past MAC to Clinique! I still can't get over it!)

Let me tell you about the Long Last Glosswears...

With this new lipgloss, you get a kazillion (aproximately) benefits:

• An SPF 15, which is great year round, but especially nice with warm weather coming
• Long-lasting shine
• Lots of choices when it comes to colors (there's one for every outfit!)
• Soft lips

The deal is this: special film-formers make a seal that holds this sucker on your lips for longer than any gloss I've seen - and it doesn't feel so tacky that dust is sticking on it as you walk through a room! In fact, it's very comfortable to wear.

Clinique says this gloss can wear up to 8 hours, a boastful promise that may not be too far off. I'm pretty good about not chewing off my lip products (working at MAC will teach you that, 'cause you have to look great but are too busy to touch up!) and unless I'm eating or drinking I can get almost 8 hours out of this gloss. A Starbucks will shorten that time, though, but I don't mind reapplying this gloss. Certainly, I do so less than any other gloss I've ever tried.

I mentioned that these are comfortable - in fact, they're so nice on the lips that I haven't had to worry about dry lips since I started wearing them. Lips will be improved immediately and conditioned over time; the special moisturizing formula makes this one of the most moisturizing lip glosses on the market. And in my experience, the ones that are "hydrating" don't usually last for terribly long.

Since these are from Clinique, they are 100% fragrance free and allergy tested. 

They're on counter now and available at Clinique.com, too. And only $14 USD!

[Editor's Note: I'm not kidding- I have exclusively used these glosses for the last 2 weeks, and even went to pick up a few new shades over the weekend. Honestly, it shocks the crap out of me to admit that I haven't touched my lipglasses or even lipsticks in so long! I own: Whisper, Rock Violet, Kissyfit, and have Fireberry + a backup. Yes: a backup of a non-MAC product. Who am I!? ]

The colors are, from left to right, Fireberry, Rock Violet, Whisper, and Kissyfit. The kind of crappy swatch is of Fireberry. Below, my assistant helps me take pictures...