Beauty Sightings and Inspiration: Burlesque

Let's get one thing straight: I absolutely hate this movie. I think it was a glossy, predictable, trope-tacular Christina Aguilera vehicle that let her overrated hog-calling steamroll across some truly talented people (Stanley Tucci and Cher, to name a few), leaving an embarrassment of a film in its wake. But, uh...the makeup is pretty. It's really pretty. And we all know I'm a sucker for pretty makeup, especially if three of the main features are red lipsticks, winged eyeliner, and bucketloads of highlighter.

FYI, there are some beauty breakdowns for Burlesque available on Makeup411.com. Here's one for Christina and one for Cher. I refuse to refer to them by their fictional names because Aguilera is a dreadful actress who played a blatant Mary Sue and Cher is so far beyond this trash.

OPI nail polishes on Christina's dresser back home, and I think there's some handcream, too.

Cher holding an exceptionally 90s-esque gloss: frosty and taupe!

A purse exploding to reveal another OPI polish and what I'm 75% sure is a NYX lip gloss.

One of the Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier pencils! I'm pretty sure that brand is defunct now, which is a real shame; they had some beautiful products.

That big, white tube of what is most likely body cream and that bottle full of translucent orange liquid pops up on almost every vanity in this movie. Anybody recognize them?

An Estee Lauder lipliner.

Smashbox brushes appear to be a favorite in this movie! I only took this one shot, but trust me, there are plenty more; the Smashbox blush brush looks particularly popular.

A quick vanity shot.

Christina's makeup. That powder in the middle is definitely Smashbox, and I think the red gloss is either Smashbox or NARS--anybody want to confirm?

And now the inspiration photos! Burlesque gets a lot of comparisons to Showgirls, and while I think the latter is far less trite and, honestly, a bit more watchable, I have to say that it's a fair comparison as far as makeup goes. We're dealing with characters who perform in over-the-top shows, so the makeup is going to be suited to that. The makeup in Burlesque is a bit more finessed, though, probably because this is a film made after the advent of HD: you can't be anything less than perfect as a makeup artist if you want your clients to look good.

 

Underrated Effortless Beauty Must-Haves

The idea of "effortless beauty" used to be something of a joke to me. It always felt like an effort (albeit an enjoyable one) to blend out my foundation and concealer, comb through my lashes, fill in my brows, perfect my lipstick, and wing my eyeliner. But as I've gotten older, tried a wider variety of looks, and experienced a whole new generation of makeup textures and finishes, I've come to realize that some products really ARE effortless. The modern beauty world is inundated with natural-looking, easy-to-apply makeup, the kind of stuff you can throw on your face in five minutes without brushes or fusses. And while some of these products, like Becca Beach Tints and Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat, are cult classics, others don't seem to get the attention they deserve.

Topping my list is the Elizabeth Arden Crystal Clear Gloss ($14, ElizabethArden.com). I'm not a gloss girl in the slightest, but this one is truly special. It's sticky enough to last for hours without making your lips feel gummy, and it has an unusual "blurring" effect that seems to reduce the visibility of lip lines. It looks beautiful on its own or over any lipstick. I'm also not one to bother with fancy eyeshadow looks on most days, but even if I'm in a hurry, I can find time for the Wet n' Wild Fergie eyeshadow primer ($5, drugstores) and a slick of Lancome Pink Zinc eyeshadow ($19, Nordstrom). The Fergie primer has actually replaced my Too Faced Shadow Insurance; I might cry if they discontinue it. And yes, Pink Zinc + MAC Satin Taupe is my favorite smokey eye...but Pink Zinc is gorgeous on its own. I feel like Lancome eyeshadows get zippo love.

If there's something I do love, unequivocally, it's a bright lipstick and loads of mascara. But it's difficult to smear on a red lipstick when you're sitting on a bus at 7:30 in the morning. So I go for Lipstick Queen Jean Queen ($18, Nordstrom) instead: it's a beautiful watermelon color that's bright enough to make an impact, but also sheer and creamy enough that it can be applied without a mirror. If I need a no-mess mascara that's layerable, I turn to Estee Lauder Sumptuous ($24, EsteeLauder.com). One coat looks quite natural, three coats is lush and full, and the brush makes it a bit easier to apply than, say, CoverGirl Clump Crusher if you're prone to poking yourself in the eye. (Guilty.)

For glowy-but-natural looking skin that takes me all of 2 minutes, I turn to three specific products: the Tarte Tinted BB Treatment in Fair ($34, Sephora), Charlotte Ronson Liquid eyeshadow in Sky (sadly discontinued), and Makeup Forever Uplight #11 ($29, Sephora). The Tarte BB is supposed to be a primer, but because it has a tint and some SPF, I just use it as an on-to-go sunscreen and tinted moisturizer, sometimes topped with a smidge of powder. The Uplight and liquid eyeshadow both have incredibly unique formulas that leave my eyes and cheeks looking soft and dewy. After I slap on these three products, I can slap on some brow pencil, mascara, and multipurpose cheek/lip products for a 5 minute makeup look. All while sitting in the back of the bus!

My Makeup Bag

I'm one of those women who really should get out of the habit of carrying a makeup bag. It was a necessity when I was in graduate school because I almost always rolled out of bed after 2 hours of sleep and slapped on a full face of makeup whilst riding the bus to the office. Now that I'm seeking employment and rarely spend my nights at other people's houses? Not quite as necessary. I could get away with my lip color and a powder compact. But I stubbornly cling to the carry-a-makeup-bag tradition in the hopes that I'll have more adventures, find exhausting but gainful employment, and never be without an essential touch-up item.

One thing I definitely need to put in this bag, though, is a travel packet of makeup remover wipes. I'd never rely on a makeup wipe to clean my face on a regular day, but if I get stuck somewhere and can't access my complete skincare routine? Girl.

First, the non-makeup stuff I carry! I always worry about running out the door with messy, smelly hair, so I carry my spin pins, a bobby pin, a ponytail holder, and a solid perfume. The solid perfumes from One Hand Washes the Other are a godsend because they won't leak or melt and make a mess out of my bag! My emergency skincare treatment of choice is the Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Intensive Daily Moisturizer for Face, which is creamy enough to moisturize my face, but light enough to mix with other products. I've only seen that product in kits, but keep your eyes peeled at TJ Maxx and Marshall's! Last, but not least, a mirror my friend Jessica gave me. I'm paranoid about food getting stuck in my giant horse teeth, so I check that mirror more than I'd like to admit...

And the makeup! A few of these items rotate in and out: the sample Chantecaille gloss is there in case I want a bit of shine, I'm due to replace the Estee Lauder Sumptuous mascara with a new mini, and I switch the Becca Beach Tints every month or so--they're sheer enough to work with most lip colors. The Clinique Superfine Liner for Brows in Soft Blonde isn't the Holy Grail that Shu Uemura Hard Formula in Seal Brown is, but it's still quite pretty and very travel-friendly. I do think I need to find an alternative to the Palladio Rice Paper Sheets...they aren't terrible, but they kick up a good bit of powder when I pull them out, which defeats the purpose of carrying a pseudo-mess free powder.

The other items are major loves of mine and definite makeup bag staples! Benefit High Beam has been one of my all-time favorite highlighters and all-around wonder products for years, and it really breaks my heart that they no longer sell this $10 travel size. :( On the bright side, many of the kits contain mini-High Beams! I also keep a travel-sized Anastasia Clear Brow Gel to hold my crazy brows in shape and, if the need be, to add some shine to my lashes. That's one of the few products I own a full-sized AND travel-sized version of, because I never ever want to be without it. Lipstick Queen Jean Queen is a Holy Grail that stays in the makeup bag because it's suitable for any and all makeup looks. And of course, my base products: the Tarte BB Tinted Treatment in Fair and the Clinique Airbrush concealer in Fair. Both of these products are sheer, lightweight, and absolutely bulletproof.

Mini Mascara Reviews!

Mascara is one of my favorite makeup products. I know it sounds odd, me being such a lips-and-cheeks girl who rarely wears a lot of eye makeup. But it's because I wear so little eye makeup that mascara is so important to me: big, flirty lashes and well-groomed brows can make an otherwise bare eye look so polished and clean. So from time to time, I try four or five new mascaras at once to see if any of them can replace my Holy Grail: Prestige My Biggest Lashes.

Let me explain why I love Prestige MBL so much. One layer volumizes and lengthens without getting clumpy or spidery, and it still looks natural. But I can do two or three layers or pile it on top of a primer, like DiorShow Maximizer, for a super-dramatic, flattering look. It doesn't flake or smear. It just...works on my lashes.

And that's the important thing to remember: everyone's lashes are different, just like everyone's skin. You may love a mascara I hate. But just like with skin tones and types, it's easy to find a "lash twin." If one or two or my hits works for you, it's a decent bet that my misses would be misses for you as well. Not to mention, all mascaras make claims about what they do. We certainly want to see if they match up to those claims!

Eyeko Skinny Brush mascara retails for $19 at Sephora. It's advertised as a "conditioning mascara that adds length." The brush is, indeed, long and skinny, and the short, coarse bristles wine around the wand. The tube is certainly cool; it's a squeeze tube that you're supposed to be able to roll up to get every last bit of product. That's the only positive thing I can say. This brush DOES lengthen, but it bends my lashes and looks clumpy, spidery, and dry. The clumps are HORRENDOUS, even after I've scraped the brush off on the rim of the mascara tube and a piece of tissue. And conditioning? I wore this mascara for about 4 days straight, and it dried my lashes out. Not my thang, boo.

CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara is a new addition to the popular Lash Blast line, and I got it for about $7.50 at Target. I bought it after seeing it on one of JoshCollierMUA's YouTube videos. It sounded like my kind of mascara, and sure enough, it was. I have seriously fallen in love with this stuff! The thick, slightly-curved rubber bristle brush applies plenty of product, but combs it through to prevent clumps, as per advertisements. The length is decent, the volume is WOW. The formula was slightly sticky for the first few days, but when it dried up, it was smooth and creamy. My only complaints: the water resistant formula is very difficult to remove, so just imagine trying to remove a waterproof version, and the clunky CoverGirl Lash Blast packaging is always a pain in the ass to get a good grip on.

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Bold Volume lifting mascara costs $22 at Estee Lauder counters. It claims to be ultra-light, lifting, and volumizing for even the finest, straightest lashes. And I can believe that: the formula is slightly thin, but not wet, and it applies to the lashes without any clumping or sticking. The cone-shaped bristle brush keeps lashes separated and makes it easy to apply mascara to your bottom lashes and the inner corner of your eyes. And it held a curl on my sister's babydoll, stick-straight lashes! I absolutely love this mascara, but not for a "bold" look; I think it makes my lashes look beautiful, but it's still very natural, not super-dramatic. The one issue is that it's a bit difficult to layer--it can start looking clumpy if you try and force it to look thick and dramatic. I have travel-sized versions of this mascara, and I always keep one in my purse!

Maybelline One-by-One was a surprisingly cheap mascara, costing me just $5.50 at Target. The brush is a HUGE, rubber oval with long, porcupine-like bristles. It claims to be "bold without the bulk," a mascara that adds plenty of volume without clumping up your lashes and maintaining a lot of separation. It definitely separates, and the length is very impressive. But the volume is just "okay." The formula is also quite wet and the brush is a tad difficult to handle. I always made a bit of a mess out of my eyelid with this one. I did get a smidge of flaking with this one, but nothing too extreme, just one or two flakes on my cheeks at the end of the day. Overall, it's a good mascara, but I won't repurchase; I greatly prefer CoverGirl Clump Crusher.

Urban Decay Big Fatty mascara retails for $20 at Sephora, but I got mine as a sample. Straight off the bat, the packaging for the sample is HORRIBLE: it's a plastic tube that you don't unscrew, you just yank out, and it makes a huge mess. The formula is quite thick and slightly dry; the brush is super-long and covered with very short bristles. It kinda reminds me of my mom's favorite round hair brush. I was hoping I'd love this mascara because the brush is so neat, but oh my GOD, it was AWFUL! It clumped my lashes, made them look spidery and dry, and flaked all over my face within a few hours. It claims to lengthen, hold a curl, and volumize like woah, but I found that it gave me very little volume and actually pulled out of some of my curl. As someone with naturally curly lashes, I have to say that I'm stunned. I tossed this right after photographing it.

Elizabeth Arden Ceramide mascara is a $20 "treatment mascara" that's supposed to lengthen, define, and stay in place. The brush is what I would consider a "classic brush," very simple and basic. I got my sample in an Elizabeth Arden gift with purchase...THANK GOD. I am so glad I didn't spend money on this trash! The formula seemed promising--creamy and smooth, usually my favorite texture--but it was a pain to get it to comb through my lashes. It clumped like CRAZY, but didn't add much volume or length. It just...clumped. I wore this mascara three times, and I had to force myself to wear it the second and third time, because it flakes like CRAZY! Seriously, I've never used such a flaky mascara before! Again, this baby went straight to the trash.

Beauty Sightings: Sex and the City, season 6

I'm preparing to wade through Sandy to get to work, but before I do, let's go through the last set of Sex and the City beauty sightings, shall we?

Carrie preparing to pop her Elizabeth Arden Crystal Clear Gloss in to her Chanel bag.

A view of Carrie's bathroom and some of the perfumes on her vanity.

More perfume and products! I keep seeing that one perfume in the square bottle with the round cap. EDIT: Koushi says that this might be Jo Malone--thanks, love! Also, the Creed perfume that keeps popping up in Samantha's apartment is apparently Spring Flowers.

I think this is some kind of lip pot...?

Anybody recognize this little shop the ladies are at? They're testing out perfumes here.

MOAR PRODUCT! The black tube appears to be Bobbi Brown stick foundation.

Another shot of Samantha's sink.

Miranda has a Kiehl's lotion on her bedside table.

I'm actually not sure if this is Kiehl's or Elizabeth Arden, but I'm betting it's the former, because Miranda uses a good amount of Kiehl's skincare.

Carrie's little bag probably has some Chanel makeup. Maybe earrings, but let's go with makeup. ;)

Carrie slides across the floor of Dior--I definitely see an Estee Lauder gloss and lipstick.

Another shot of an Estee Lauder Signature or All Day lipstick (most likely Signature--I think the All Day line wasn't out at this point).

A final shot of Carrie's vanity in France.

Beauty Sightings: Sex and the City, season 1

I have a love-hate relationship with Sex and the City. On the one hand, I can see how it brought third-wave feminism to the forefront of pop culture and promoted the idea that strong, powerful women are still mere mortals. On the other hand, I found many of the storylines unrealistic, close-minded with regards to sexuality and gender stereotypes, and yes, even a little anti-feminist by promoting phrases like "I can't be in a committed relationship/marriage because I'm selfish." But truth be told, I've rewatched every episode a dozen times. The show is generally light-hearted, makes me laugh, and contains numerous beauty sightings, though they can be tricky to spot.

Season 1 beauty sightings are especially difficult to capture. The video quality didn't really go up until about season 3 or 4, so any screenshot that can capture the rough textures and colors of the items is bound to be grainy and blurry. Still, I managed to spot a few products I definitely recognized; about half of the rest look very similar. Those who are going to help me with brand names and products, please do! This show ran from the late 90s to the early 2000s.

Carrie's purse gets smacked out of her hand in the first episode. Several gold-cased lipsticks and gold-capped lipglosses pop out--they appear to be Estee Lauder--and a mascara-looking object in a thin white tube with a blue stripe. Anybody recognize the mascara-looking thing? Also, on the right, there's a tube of concealer with a satiny silver cap...I think it might be Clinique?

I can't recognize the silver compact, but a makeup artist friend of mine said that the round lipstick shape and silver-and-black tube are signature 90s Dior. Can anybody back this up for me?

A makeup artist with a bag of tools, and she's holding a sponge, a brush that appears to be from Estee Lauder, and something in a red compact. My immediate reaction was "Kevyn Aucoin!", but I'm pretty sure KA's beauty line launched closer to the time of his death in 2002--this season was filmed in 1988.

Carrie seems to keep a lot of her makeup in this wicker basket. There's also a vanity behind her--it looks like there are some serums and an eyeshadow and blush/gloss in black compacts, but they're hard to see.

Early-episodes Miranda has relatively light, natural brows. Here we see her running a spooly through her brows before she runs off to work.

Anybody recognize this lipstick packaging?

The ladies testing makeup. I'm dying to know what brand these products are! They remind me a lot of Estee Lauder, but of course, I can't be sure. The window in back seems to say "Desse," which isn't a boutique or store I recognize. (Then again, I'm not a New Yorker.)

Carrie in the same boutique holding a compact, most likely an eyeshadow.

Samantha's vanity, which cotton rounds, a powder compact, nail polishes, and lipsticks. Anybody recognize any of this stuff.

Carrie's plummy-pink lipliner. The writing is actually embossed silver. Liners are some of the hardest things to recognize because they're so tiny and their packaging is rarely distinctive.

Carrie's bathroom table. There's a Laura Mercier compact, a lash curler, and a bottle of Benetint. Makeup 411 notes that they used Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage on Sarah Jessica Parker, but I think that's a powder compact. I have a really hard time recognizing the foundation or the hair products. I'm 95% sure the pot of cream on the far right, which keeps popping up, is Ponds. (UPDATE: Emmeleine has pointed out that the cream might actually be Olay. Thanks!)

I don't recognize the liner, but those pots in the center are almost definitely La Femme cake glosses and blushes. EDIT: According to Amanda, the liner is very similar to old-school Stila. Thanks, Amanda! I think the small bottle with the white cap might be another Benefit product...High Beam or Posietint, perhaps?

Carrie applying mascara. I'm pretty sure that this is YSL--confirmation?

 Sam applying a really beautiful plum-nude lipstick.