UK brand Made by Mitchell has “made” its way to the U.S. via Ulta and the brand’s website. The products are adorable, in yellow highlighter packaging similar to another buzzy indie brand I love — that’d be Half Magic. The MbM product range is edgy like Half Magic, but with a cheeky British vibe. The Blursh Pods Domed Blushers are “must own.” I don’t typically wear blush because it always…looks like I am wearing blush. But with a trusty, fluffy, oversized brush in one hand and the Blursh Pod in the other, I have become a convert. What, exactly, is a Blursh Pod? I am so glad you’ve inquired. It’s a baked, luminous blush that may seem super concentrated in the compact. But it goes on sheer and gorgeous and just adds an airy veil of color. That’s due to the finely milled formula. You can go for a light wash or build it out for a brighter, bolder look. I have a major crush on Vanilla Sponge, which is a delish on the skin as it sounds. It’s a perfectly peachy pink that is an excellent choice for blush beginners as well as blush veterans! It also works with all skin tones, because you can turn the concentration up or down with the amount of product you use and build upon.
Blursh Pods aren’t the only Made by Mitchell product that I have entered into a deep and meaningful makeup relationship with. The brand’s pocket-sized Bare Sparkles Lip Oils are divine. Love Your Aura is a shimmery, baby pink that will remind you of your high school days, while Chrome Lollipop is a sparkly silver for dance floor nights out with your squad. Your pucker will be drenched in shimmer and shine bright like a diamond, as Rihanna once said. The formula looks and feels like a glazey gloss. There’s no scent and no tingle or cooling sensation. There’s also ZERO of that ’00s stickiness and it packs a powerfully hydrating punch. These products are so good that if they were not available stateside, you’d be well within your rights to book a flight to the UK just to shop and swatch ’em.
Isamaya Beauty’s Microbial Gel Primer has changed my mind about makeup primers beyond eyeshadow primers! More is always more and while I am all about a maximalist makeup routine, some days I just don’t want to put something else on my face. Then I met the MGP. It’s a super light gel that moisturizes, protects, and adds some dewiness. It’s infused with hyaluronic acid, prebiotics, and calming botanicals and just makes my skin feel so smooth and creamy. I slather it on after moisturizer and sunblock and before I dust with a light powder. It provides a smooth canvas on which to apply additional product. A word of caution, though! When squeezing product out of the tube, do it gingerly — a thick, aluminum-looking tube that gives off sleek, industrial vibes. If you squeeze too hard, a ton of product squirts out and, well, you can’t put the Genie back in the bottle and you don’t want to to waste it. So give it a LIGHT squeeze to dispense product.
Isamaya’s Skin Enhancing Duo in Fig is basically a dewy, creamy blush duo. So it’s ‘duo-y!” (See what I did there?!) Thanks,I’ll be here all week. One half is a pinky mauve blush. The other is an iridescent highlighter. You can dip a freshly washed or sanitized digit into the pan and dab the solid-to-cream formula on lips, cheeks, lids, browbones, Cupid’s Bow, and beyond. It blends easily and beautifully, it is buildable, and offers all the radiance and luminance you need when the temps drop. Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your glow.
Okay, I am NOT going to apologize for LOVING ALL of the offerings from Isamaya Beauty, the brand launched by makeup artistIsamaya French. The brand’s Lip Balm is also luscious AF. Just sayin’.
Half Magic’s Go Plump Yourself Matte Lip Plumper adds no color and no shine. It simply provides a matte plumping effect. So use it before you gloss, stain, swipe, and go! It provides 8-hours of extreme plumping. Since it’s colorless and has no shine, you can use it to line OUTSIDE of your lips and get mega plump action without looking like you…lined outside your lips, which looks inauthentic when not done correctly. The formula features Benzyl Nicotinate, Capsicum and Vanillyl Butyl Ether — these are warming agents and vasodilators that increase circulation and cause a flushing sensation. It DOES burn for the first few seconds. And if you layer more, it will burn longer. But as my grandmother of a different generation used to say — beauty must suffer. She was talking about sleeping in plastic rollers to get curls and using a clothing iron to straighten hair. It’s not really suffering. It’s just a short period of discomfort for a desired effect. I’m OK with exchanging a little burn for plumpness.
Makeup collectors and fangirls, unite! The CoverGirl x Netflix Stranger Things collab is life. From the heat-activated Upside Down Makeup Bag, which changes hues to reveal easter eggs, to the Bite PH Transforming Lip Gloss, which morphs from black and green to sheer pink, this collection arrives just in time for Halloween. It’s not just a co-branded collab where Stranger Things logos and names are slapped on products. It’s truly cool AF, since some of the products shapeshift and speak to the show’s impassioned and disciple-like fandom, such as Vecna’s Curse PH Transforming Blush, which is a creamy PH-reactive stick that’s a buildable pink or purple. The face palette and eyeliner are gloriously Strange, too! The products are from a legacy drugstore brand, but they also work. Sometimes you find that cheap ‘n’ chic items aren’t as luxe. This collection is all affordably adorable, and cutting edge. Grab the whole collection without sacrificing the rent.
ILIA, one of the Internet’s fave clean brands, has the PERFECT transitional product to carry your pucker from summer through fall and winter. The Lip Sketch Hydrating Lip Crayon is a workhorse. It’s a lip pencil, a lip crayon, and a non-liquid or stick matte lippie! No, I am not kidding. If you are over shimmery, wet-look glosses yet don’t want the heaviness of a full matte lipstick when the weather is moody, inconsistent, and unpredictable, then this chubby will be what you reach for every single day. You can trace lips precisely and then fill in the surface for a blurred and light ‘n’ soft matte lip look. The pigments are rich and don’t move without being clingy or crusty or drying. Because NO ONE needs that…EVER! It’s also said to help improve the skin barrier. There are moments when I just want a really precise, 2015-era lip look. I get it with this crayon. It’s also easy to overdraw with, so if you want to plump without the pain of needles, grab Untitled, a nude beige that will look gorj on all lip tones.
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