The weather has been amazing in Portland this week, so I decided to do some fun “summer” kinds of things with my makeup. This was today’s effort, involving two of my favorite colors from Silk Naturals and an awesome hot pink.

The pale gold color is Juiced, from Silk Naturals. Juiced is a pale gold with suede pearl finish, and a fair amount of gold glimmer. I used a sticky base for maximum glimmer adhesion. Heat is a deep coppery orange tone with a silky pearl finish. I put Heat in the outer corners. The hot pink color is She Bop from Madd Style Cosmetics. She Bop is a bright, deep pink color with a silvery shimmer and aqua glitter. The highlight is Kingslayer from Geek Chic Cosmetics. The eyeliner on the upper lashline is Milani’s Infinite Liquid Liner in Forever. The lower lashline is a taupe eye pencil (it’s a discontinued color).

I mixed my Lush Colour Supplement with moisturizer today rather than my usual mineral foundation. I did brush on some mattifying powder on top though. The blush is Orchid Convertible Color from Stila – which they don’t seem to carry anymore. It’s a deep plum kind of color.

The lip gloss is Gloss Pur from Yves Saint Laurent and is 04 Pure Raspberry. I don’t wear it nearly enough, it’s a fun color for summer.

I love citrus-y perfumes for summer. There’s something very refreshing about a citrus fragrance when the weather is really warm. The two perfumes I have from Lush (Tuca Tuca and Imogen Rose) are both more cool weather fragrances for me, so I was really excited to try out a new one and find it PERFECT!

25:43 was named for the amount of time it took the perfumer to develop it (25 minutes 43 seconds, apparently). It has notes of lime, tonka bean, lemongrass, vanilla, ylang ylang and litsea. This is a very lemon-y perfume, but the addition of ylang ylang, vanilla, and tonka bean keep it from veering off into Pledge territory. It comes a bit close to smelling like lemon sandwich cookies, but manages not to stray too far in that direction from the herbaceous lemongrass and litsea notes.

I love this perfume. It wears a bit close to the skin, which is nice if the weather is particularly warm. I catch whiffs of it now and then that are quite pleasant. Like most citrus fragrances, it’ll last longer on well moisturized skin – I recommend spraying it on right after you’ve applied lotion (even if it’s not particularly matching lotion).

The 0.3 oz size is only $14.95. I suspect I’m using it up faster than my other Lush perfumes in that size, because you can spray it more liberally without creating a suffocating cloud. All this is to say that I’m probably going to wish I’d gotten the big bottle.

If you’re looking for a beautifully sunny citrus scent with a bit of sweetness, do check out 25:43. It’s lovely.

I’ve been feeling like wearing more neutral colors lately, but not too neutral. I used my beloved Theo with Thundernuts from My Pretty Zombie, because both have some fun colored sparkles going on.

Theo, from Black Rose Minerals, is a light fawn with a green duochrome and green sparkles. You can now buy Theo in a super-awesome collection! Thundernuts is a light brown with a blue shift (it sparkles too!). Use a sticky base for maximum sparklage from both these colors. I used Divinity from Persephone Minerals to highlight. The eyeliner is VS Makeup Eyeliner in Dark Chocolate.

The blush color is Clotted and Thing, both from Detrivore Cosmetics, mixed together. The lipstick is Funbathing from MAC.

Bear with me, I’m going to get my COMPLAIN on. I perspire a lot. After running through several brands of less expensive natural deodorants (sans antiperspirant) and disliking them because OH HEY I SMELL AFTER SEVERAL HOURS, I threw in the towel and decided that I had to use an antiperspirant. (More expensive natural brand deodorants work pretty good for me, but $$$.) Unfortunately, NOT STINKING is generally a part of any professional dress code nowadays, so that’s not really an option if you want to get and keep a job. There’s just one little problem – I seem to have sensitive armpits (OH JOY) and so far all the drugstore brand antiperspirants I’ve tried give me unbearably itchy pits. I seem to have developed a sensitivity to them in the last two years or so. That pretty much left me purchasing a $16 antiperspirant that is otherwise mostly natural, and works well. But the price… ugh. (My favorite natural deodorant that actually works is $18, in case you’re wondering.)

So it was with no small amount of excitement when I saw that Tom’s of Maine had introduced an antiperspirant, with a short and pretty simple list of ingredients. I decided to give it a try! I picked the Powder scent, which has a pleasant fresh scent, not too powdery. It goes on pretty smoothly for a formula that doesn’t contain any silicones, and isn’t draggy or sticky on the skin. For me, it works as well as any non-clinical drugstore formula at controlling wetness, which for me means very minimal sweating for many hours. My friend who tried it (who I think uses a clinical strength formula) didn’t find it totally adequate, so if you’re used to a strong antiperspirant, it might not cut it. To sum up: antiperspirant, minimal ingredients, smells nice, under five bucks, GETS THE JOB DONE. I’M SOLD!!

So now my rant. Reading the comments on the Tom’s website for this new product pretty much left me full of rage. You’d think they were kicking puppies or something with all the ZOMG IT HAS ALUMINUM IN IT Y U SO EVIL TOM??? type comments, including some claiming Tom’s is trying to trick people into buying their evil death product. LE SIGH. The tube is clearly labeled with all the ingredients, so if anyone buys this thinking they’re getting something aluminum-free, that’s totally their fault for not reading the damned label. I don’t understand the rage, honestly. There are a multitude of natural, non-aluminum products out there for those people to buy – but this is the first (that I’ve found) reasonably priced antiperspirant that didn’t contain a bunch of junk that irritates my skin. Tom’s is filling a need that is obviously out there – people like me who want or need an antiperspirant with simple, mostly natural ingredients that doesn’t cost the earth. The haters can just go stick their heads in a bucket.

In short, two thumbs up for Tom’s Naturally Dry.

It seemed like a good day to wear some softer colors, so I used two of my favorites from Silk Naturals. Phantom, the lighter pink color, is part of the Eyelights collection. According to their website, Eyelights are unique to Silk Naturals. When applied dry, they’re a silky somewhat sheer soft pearl texture. When applied over over a sticky base the base color deepens, and the highlights pop out to create a lit from within glow.

Phantom is a very light, almost sheer pearl pink with pearlescent golden highlights when applied dry. Applied over a sticky base, it blooms to a soft golden peach glow. The crease color is Defenestrate. Defenestrate (means to throw something out the window) is a reddish plum color with coppery golden highlights. I love this color! Definitely use a sticky base (like Pixie Epoxy) for best results! I used Kingslayer from Geek Chic Cosmetics to highlight. The eyeliner is Jordana Easyliner in Purple Fusion.

The blush is Concubine, from Detrivore Cosmetics. Concubine is a great color – a faded mauve color. It looks alarming in the jar, but just fantastic on skin. The lip gloss is Sephora Collection Glossy Gloss in Christmas Candy – a sheer raspberry with iridescent glitter.

L’Occitane introduced their Brightening line a few years ago, and the Brightening Essence has been one of the most popular products in the line. It’s a lightweight serum that is supposed to correct wrinkles, even skin tone and brighten the complexion. I’ve been using it pretty regularly, and the prognosis is I love it!

While I don’t have significant pigmentation issues from sun exposure, I have heard from a good friend of mine that this product works a number on darker spots and unevenness left from acne. I don’t get a lot of breakouts, but probably because of some immune system issues I have, I heal slowly from them when I do. I really hate having the marks on my face for weeks (sometimes months if they’re particularly deep) afterwards. Immortelle essential oil, one of the ingredients in the Brightening Essence is particularly good for healing skin. I wanted to try the serum to see if it would help with the acne marks.

In addition to immortelle essential oil (which also helps with collagen production), Brightening Essence contains Bellis Perennis (Daisy) extract and a Vitamin C derivative to diminish age spots and give skin a youthful glow, and Garden Nasturtium extract to increase the skin’s natural ability to reflect light. It also has wintergreen leaf to help with natural exfoliation.

The texture of the serum is light. It’s water-based, so it’s not greasy or oily. The bottle lid is a dropper, which I like, as it helps regulate how much product you use. If you’re treating significant pigmentation issues, I would use it morning and night for best results. I only use it once a day, usually at night. Be sure to wear sunscreen, or you’ll negate the brightening effects! There’s no point to using products to correct sun damage if you aren’t wearing sunscreen every day.

Right away, I noticed that the lingering redness from acne marks cleared up much faster than usual. Sweet! Overall, my skin does seem improved over time, with a smoother feel and the blemishes I do get (they are reduced) heal much faster. I also appreciate the anti-wrinkle effects of this product!

It’s a serum, so a little bit goes a long way. Used twice a day, you’ll probably use up a bottle in three months, or six months with once a day use. It’s not cheap, at $56, but I’d call it splurge-worthy since you get firming and anti-wrinkle benefits as well as the brightening effects. I definitely recommend the Brightening Essence if you’re in the market for a good anti-aging serum, that’s not full of harsh chemicals.

Yesterday I used Detrivore Cosmetics to create a fun neutral with a twist look. I was going to the Cinco de Mayo celebration on Portland’s waterfront with my grandma and dad and stepmom and wanted to look nice! I think it came out good!

The inner half of the lid is Vulture. Vulture is a light taupe brown satin eye shadow filled with shimmer. It’s a darker taupe than others I own, so it’s nice if you want something with more impact. I used Wraith in the outer corners. Wraith is a dark brown eye shadow with golden and copper shimmer. I used Death Valley in the upper part of the crease to add a little somethin’ somethin’ to this otherwise neutral look. Death Valley is a deep pink eye shadow that is very shimmery. I used Pixie Epoxy underneath to help all those shimmers really stick. Lobotomy is the highlight. I’m really happy with how it came out! The eyeliner is VS Makeup Eyeliner in Dark Chocolate.

The blush is Detrivore Cosmetics’ Indecent. Indecent is a matte deep vivid pink blush. I’m wearing L’Oreal Infallible Plumping Gloss in Plumped Brown.

This is old news now, but Shiro Cosmetics released a new color collection – and I snatched up samples to try! This was several days ago, but I wanted to show how pretty these two colors are together.

The lid is Baker’s Boy, a shimmery light golden brown with blue sparks. SUPER PRETTY!! This one is definitely worthy of being purchased in full size. The crease color is Girl On Fire, a bright, hot, shimmery orange with golden sparks. How much do I love bright orange? A LOT. I used Detrivore’s Lobotomy to highlight.

The cheek color is Detrivore’s Poison blush with a gold highlight on top. No lip product because I forgot to put it on before I took the picture.

Be sure to check out Shiro’s facebook page for a birthday coupon code!