Happy 4th of July!

It's a long weekend for the Muse as the fourth falls tomorrow! Yay! I'm closing my office early today and heading upstate for a long weekend of fun!

How about you guys? Any plans for the 4th?

This week has been a bit of a slow week for Musings! Apologies for that but life sometimes comes before blogging!

Up and Comming @ Musings:

• I have quite a few things to get through in the way of reviews and I should be starting on a few Fall Collections shortly that I've picked up!
• I still have to blog the latest and greatest from MAC as I am very slow pumping those reviews out! Sorry guys!
• Japanese Fall Collections are popping into stores soonish so I'll be hauling that stuff and reviewing shortly!
• Etude House's Summer Skincare will be featured shortly as well!
• I'll be sharing my latest awesome, foundation discovery that a friend recommended me a while ago and I'm absolutely loving! Can't wait to share it with you! It's amazing!
• I'll be doing a BB Cream article very soon that everyone has asked about but I'm currently waiting on a few new brands that a lovely reader rec'ed me. Those are being airmailed to me shortly so expect a round up post very soon!
• I have the new Bourjois Paris 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation and a new concealer pen that the lovely Laura picked up for me awaiting my review! Expect these two reviews to be live on Monday!
• The Laura Mercier Flawless Face Kit and the Amazing Cosmetics Kit will be done in a comparison post shortly! Very fun post hopefully!
• I have some news about RMK that I'll be sharing with you shortly which I'm sure my lovely Singaporeans already know about!

And finally I have a few other bits and bobs laying around I'm dying to share with you guys! Have a product you're dying to hear a review about? Tell the Muse!

For now the Muse is ready to close up shop and get some relaxing in! Here's some link love from some past popular posts! Happy Reading!

Feel the bite of DuWop's new Cheek Venom! Click here to read my review!

Put some pop into your cheeks with my Aromaleigh Rocks Mineral Blush Review!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy watching some MuseTV about my storage and huge stash of cosmetics!

Who doesn't love a good highlighter in the Summer for our cheeks and face? Enjoy my review on Esprique Precious Illuminate Nuancer!

Remind yourself how much I love Clio Blushes by reading all about them! Click here for the details!

Since Fall Collections are popping up everywhere you might as well have a quick visit to remind yourself what a great collection Anna Sui released last year! Click on over and read my ravings about the Royal Romp Pressed Powder!

Watch a bit more MuseTV and see my Japanese Fall Collection Haul from last year!

Check out Givenchy's Cache Cache Eye Palette released last fall and find out why I loved it!

Happy Weekend wherever in the world you are!

Hard Candy 50% Off Sale

I fear for Hard Candy's life when I noticed that the entire site was marked down to 50% Off Everything!

Wow!

Happy Shopping!

Canmake Four Shiny Eyes Review

Canmake is one of my favorite inexpensive Japanese brands. They make pretty nice quality items with a cheap price tag! What more could a girl want right? Right.

I've tried many of their items and I'm particularly fond of their very cute eyeshadow trios. They have a series of different shadow selections that range from trios, duo shadows, and various other shimmery, glittery items for your eyes!

I own a majority of the items they sell under the eyeshadow category and I've always been very pleased with my collection of Canmake goodies. Imagine my delight when I heard that for the Summer they'd be releasing Four Shine Eyes! The palettes come in three shade choices which are 01 which is an off pink selection of shadows with a brown liner, 02 which is a teal blue green variation with brown liner, and 03 which is a brownish, gold, beige combo with a brown liner.















As I mentioned earlier on in my post the brand is cheap so obviously quality isn't fantastic however it is good. The shadows in the general catalog are shimmery and sheer but color can be built up and with a little work you can create a beautiful eye look!

Sadly, as much as I adore Canmake I do have to give the Four Shiny Eyes a big thumbs down. I was shocked, surprised, and disappointed with how bad these were. I've had great experience with the line up till now so it was a bit of a big let down that something brand new to the line would turn out so poorly.

The design on the Four Shine Eyes is similar to Kiss palettes prior to their revamp. Canmake's Four Shiny Eyes are made up of two contrasting shades of shadow, a base/highlighter, and a liner all housed in a cute clear crystal case! I was very excited to get my hands on these as they are different and unique to any prior eyeshadow releases I've seen come up from the line before!

As you can see below the Kiss palettes are similiar in style to these!


The Four Shiny Eye packaging shows how Canmake has evovled! The packaging is unique to any other palette they carry.


However, my excitement quickly died a quick death when I realized how terrible to texture of these were. Like many Japanese brands these sport a particularly chalky almost creamy texture which makes blending very difficult. Although this formula has never really bothered me in the past I felt like these were quite difficult to work with. The shadow kept balling up on me as I spread it on my lid and the end result was a messy, uneven application.

The staying powder was pretty much non existent considering that within 30 minutes of application the shadow was literally flaking off my eyes into tiny balls. I had major fall out to begin with as I applied and it got even worst as the day progressed. By the time my work day ended I was lucky to have a bit of shadow in place. They creased badly even with a nice layer of Urban Decay Primer Potion underneath!

What makes this even more heartbreaking is the fact that the Four Shine Eye palettes are an awesome and cheaper dupe of Visee Jewel Crush Eye Palettes. The color variations in each palette are almost identical to Visee's palettes. Each Four Shiny Eye Palette is 680 yen each where as the Visee palettes are 2,300 yen each. These would have made a fantastic little dupe if you were looking for an inexpensive color selection that was comparable to Visee's popular Jewel Crush Eye Palettes.

Pretty similar to Visee Jewel Crush Eye Palette in E-3!


Colors are a good dupe of E-4!


Almost identical with E-2!


Sadly, even though the colors are similiar the quality is not. The chalky consistency of the formula is made with oily Asian eyelids in mind however they fail dramatically in creating a good shadow and you get a cross between cream and chalk which blends into little balls of shimmer that quickly become fall out on your cheeks and face. In this case Canmake should take a note from Majolica Majorca's Majolook palettes which sport a similar formula of eyeshadow but one that blends evenly, builds up in intensity, and stays put for hours at a time!

Although most of this was a disappointment I was delighted, as always when it comes to Japanese cosmetics, with the packaging. The cases are tiny, compact, really cute, and easy to store plus they come with a good little face chart in the back of the compact! I love how Japanese cosmetics always give the little extra instructions on use! I wish more American brands would take the time out to give us the courtesy of applying small application tips and tricks onto the packaging of products!

Nifty diagrams make for easy, breezy application!


Although the palettes are cute, inexpensive, and appear to be typical Japanese drugstore findings they fall flat in a major way and I can't help but give them a big thumbs down! Actually they were so bad I only got around to trying 02 which is the teal blue variation. The other two remain unopened untried. If anyone is interested in them e-mail me at musings.of.a.muse@gmail.com as I'm willing to sell them off!

Count the Muse disappointed on these! Don't waste your time! Pick up some of the older line up from Canmake or save your pennies for other palettes! Although new and exciting in design they sport nothing inside that redeems them!



Watch some MuseTV featuring a spotlight on Canmake!

Summer Must Have Makeup: Too Faced Magic Wand Illuminating Foundation

I think most of us crave a really light makeup when the humid, hot weather hits. Or in some cases you might be living in a climate when the weather is humid all the time!

When the humidity is so thick you can cut it with a knife and the heat feels like it's going to melt your face it's understandable to seek out a lighter, refreshing makeup that stays put and feels like you're not wearing anything at all on your face.

In my search for a lighter foundation for the Summer I came across the Too Faced Magic Wand Illuminating Foundation. This neat little wand is quite like having a large version of YSL's Touche Eclat Radiant pen. A few clicks and a quick blend later and my face is looking refreshed, flawless, and beautiful with minimal effort on my part.





The box claims that this banishes large pores but sadly I can't give you the low down on this as my pores aren't very large. It also promises to leave your skin flawless with sheer build-able coverage. That part is very true. The formula is ideal for the Summer as it applies as a moisturizing foundation but it dries down to a very matte finish which allows your skin to breath while keeping oily skin at bay.

I love how this wakes up my tired, dull skin and makes it bright and fresh looking as if I just washed and scrubbed my face! The formula is thick and creamy but don't let that lead you into believing it's heavy. It's quite light and airy once blended and just feels wonderfully natural. It has pretty nice staying power without the help of powder. I wore it from 6 am till around 3 in the afternoon with no touch ups. Although my MSF was showing signs of fading around this time my foundation was still going strong and a quick pinch of cheek stain to freshen my cheeks up was all I needed. This contains light reflecting pigments and as I said it's quite a nice moisturizing foundation without feeling oily. If you look close enough you can see a faint gleam and shimmer to your skin! Not so much that it looks shimmery or glittery but just the right amount to make your skin give off a bit of a glow!

I'm loving the packaging on this as it has a built in brush so if you don't want to touch the foundation you can easily swipe on and blend with the built in brush! Click, dab, blend, done! Simple!





Bare face Muse! Wearing Too Faced Magic Wand Illuminating Foundation, MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Global Glow, and some NARS lip gloss in Misbehave!



All in all a rather nice little foundation from Too Faced! The Muse enjoyed this one and I'm slapping a Muse Approval on it for purchase! Makeup simplicity is a must in the Summer heat and Too Faced Magic Wand Illuminating Foundation has me covered!



Head on over to Sephora or Too Faced to snatch one up for yourself!

Tried this?

Love it?

What are your favorite products from Too Faced?



Get your craves for Too Faced fulfilled by clicking through some of my other reviews!

Click on over to find out why Too Faced Eyeshadow in Mess made my Summer Must Have Makeup List!

Click here to find out why Too Faced Liquif-Eye is my must have product!

Summer Collections 2008: Aube Gloss Frutina

Aube Gloss Frutina are an absolute staple item of mine and even though I've reviewed them prior to this I thought they deserved a revisit considering a new selection has been released for Summer (Visit with Carleen and check out my love of Gloss Frutina at Girl Gloss!)



The original Gloss Frutina line up from last year included a healthy dose of shades where as this year the collection was cut down to a mere four shade selections. Even though the shades were limited this season they did have their own unique difference that the prior release did not sport.

This year the collection was not only scented with exotic fruit and food flavors but included a pleasant taste as well. I've quite fond of mentioning and re-mentioning the fact that many Japanese gloss brands fail to flavor their glosses. I'm always shocked to hear how many people actually hate flavored glosses where as I always love them and prefer my glosses have some sort of flavor. The new glosses range from orange flavoring to apple flavoring and more so I was quite in nirvana when I heard about this!



The formula on these pretty much remains the same as the previous release with very minor differences. Although in the packaging the gloss appears to be a creamy lip color and pigmented that's not the case. The texture is quite a good deal thicker and creamier than the prior release and I'm actually enjoying this formula much better. Pigmentation isn't fantastic sadly although you can build sheer color up on your lips the best bet is to stain your lips prior to use to get the most out of the gloss. Each gloss contains a very faint shimmer of gold or silver but nothing overpowering just enough to give your lips a delightfully shiny, shimmery look.

The packaging has changed very slightly with the glosses sporting a brand new pinkish lilac top. This new top is quite lovely considering it matches the palettes beautifully. It still contains the same crystals embedded into it as well which is a nice, elegant touch. The prior release was identical aside from the fact that top was silver.









As I mentioned earlier these do have a gorgeous scent and flavor. EX03 is a creamy shimmering coral shade that tastes like Blood Orange and Rosemary. The idea of combining oranges and rosemary may sound unappealing but I assure you the taste and smell is very pleasant! EX04 is a gorgeous, popping true pink that tastes like Berries and Mint. EX05 shimmering, nude, natural plum beige combination that tastes like lemongrass and plum. And lastly EX06 is a nude beige that tastes like caramel apple.















My favorite of the four shades would have to be EX04. It's such a beautiful pop of pink and with a very sheer layer of lip stain under it my lips look quite gorgeous sporting this!

Aube did a rather great job with the new line up of Gloss Frutina and I'm glad I indulged in all four colors as they were well worth adding to my beauty stash!

Aube Gloss Frutina are most definately Muse Approved for purchase!





Click here to see my original review of Aube Frutina Glosses!

Click here to visit with Janice on Specktra and see my review of Aube's Jewelry Shower Eye Palettes!

Click here to find out why I'm loving Aube's Jewelry Shower Eyes!

It's hot outside but you can keep yourself cool by exploring my Winter 2007 review of Aube's Holiday Collection!

Peter Thomas Roth Un-Wrinkle Pressed Powder Review

I haven't seen Get Smart yet starring Steve Carrel and Anne Hathaway but supposedly this little compact by Peter Thomas Roth is playing a starring role in the film! Anne Hathaway's character, Agent 99, whips this slick little compact out mid-movie!



That alone made me want to have the compact for all my own. I want to be as cool, slick, and stealth-like as a secret agent with my awesome Un-Wrinkle Pressed Powder!

Yay baby!

In all seriousness if I randomly whipped this out on a busy street in Manhattan do you think anyone would take notice of my awesomeness?

Probably not.....le sigh.....but a girl can dream! Maybe if I take the next step and slip it out while I'm leaping tall buildings....

Oh well we can't all be as wonderfully super agent-like as Orlando Bloom can we? Come to think about it maybe he's not being super-agent wonderful maybe he's bi-polar! Hmmm the possibilities are endless!




Ok, ok as much as I know how much you absolutely adore my ramblings prior to a review...the show...or in this case the review...must go on.................

For starters I can't say this helps on wrinkles as I have none aside from small lines under my eyes however this little guy promises to reduce the appearance of deep wrinkles, expression lines, and fine lines so if you're sporting any of those you might want to pick this compact up!

At first glance I was horrified at the dull beige color it was! The powder is available in one shade suits all and honestly looking at it makes you wonder about that. I was really scared to even attempt slipping it on my face as it was really dark. Turns out the color is translucent yet it somehow manages to offer awesome coverage at the same time.



I was prepared to be disappointed but I honestly like this stuff. One key point that deserves to be mentioned is the fact that I used it under my eyes with no problem. At one point in my life I was able to apply powder under my eyes without a problem but this past year or so I've noticed that if I do I age myself by about 10 years. This is simply because the powder gets trapped in the fine lines under my eyes making them appear older!

When I applied this I experienced no such problem. The formula is surprisingly light and feels like I have nothing on. That simple fact made me fall in love with this.

This promises to retain moisture as well as set makeup. I haven't yet worn it out but I'm curious how much longer my makeup will less with it on! Since the weather is hot the last thing I want to do is have dewy skin but the "retain moisture" sounds like absolute perfection to my ears for the Winter!

Here's a simple FOTD using the Peter Thomas Roth Un-Wrinkle Pressed Powder, MAC Beauty Powder in Alpha Girl from the Heatherette release, and some lipglass! That's all!



The packaging isn't anything to get too excited about as it's just a simple, slick black compact but it does have a compartment underneath for stowing away your powder puff which for me is always a plus!



The puff this comes with is extremely thin and cheap however it did do a good job applying the product lightly to my face but I'd have liked a bit of a better quality puff for the price of $31 USD.

The contains all sorts of anti-aging peptides as well! Hmm a powder with peptides? Cool!

I'm honestly pretty impressed with this guy. If I can smooth this under my eyes without problems it's definately worth purchasing a second one!

The Muse is definately liking it! Actually it might even have the potential for Muse Approval for purchase...must test more and get back to you on that!

The powder is available exclusively via QVC at the moment so if you want it head on over and type in Item Number A85040 to grab it for yourself!

Tried this?

Want too?

Tell the Muse!

Atlantic City Steals and Deals

Morning!

Happy Monday!

Seems you were treated to some Musings this weekend even though I wasn't around! I came back and noticed my Too Faced post was up! I was puzzled for a second how the heck it got posted but turns out I had scheduled the post date as the 29th instead of the 30th! Eep! So you got some Monday morning Musings on a Sunday instead! Nice for you, a mystery for me for a second! You now know my dirty little secret....I have tons of posts already written and scheduled to go! I'm telling you about this because I have quite a lot of comments to get through so I didn't want you think I was posting entries and ignoring you! I'll be replying to each of you shortly!

Anyway!

This is kinda sorta a different style of post for me today. I rarely write posts about weekends, vacations, life, etc....although some of you have expressed a keen interest in seeing photos from my vacations and such I sincerely doubt you come here to read about me, my life, and such! You do however come for the great cosmetics I'm sure hehe!

I personally don't want to bore you to tears about the details of my life or what I do on weekends and such however today I thought I'd slap some pics and such up from my little getaway in Atlantic City this weekend. This does have to kinda do with cosmetics which is why I decided to do the post!

I spend 5 out of 7 days behind a desk at work so when the weekend hits I like getting out and enjoying myself in a major way! Wahooo!

If you've never been to Atlantic City it's basically the New Jersey version of Vegas just alot smaller. It's a ton of different shops, casinos, clubs, restaurants, etc...all located on a huge strip of boardwalk complete with beach and ocean.

Recently they even added a ton of outlet shops a little ways off the boardwalk which is fab as you know I really love shopping! They have a slew of posh shops located at a mall on the boardwalk called The Pier Shops so if you're looking for LV, MAC, Lush, etc...you'd find it here!

However, if it's cheap you seek you can walk a few blocks down Michigan Ave and confront yourself with sincere shopping paradise such as the Banana Republic Outlet, Lancome Outlet, Converse Outlet, Etc.....

They have some amazing deals which are hard to pass up on! I was really selective about my purchases this weekend however I still managed to do some damage and came home with some great stuff from the Fall Collections plus loaded up on shoes, sneakers, clothes, etc....!

I won't be showing any of the Fall goodies I got quite yet however I will show you some of the freaking amazing deals that I seen about around!

Behold Glorious Cosmetics on Sale at the Lancome Outlet (If some pics are blurry it's because I took them in a rush as the SA's don't appreciate you walking around snapping photos in the store):



That lady in the blue shirt was stocking up like the world was going to run out of cosmetics! She had two baskets full! Phew I was exhausted just watching her!


Tons of Shu shadows, Shu blushes, Lancome palettes of all kinds, etc...all marked down and priced at 4 for $40!


Can someone shoot me? Is that the Destiny Cube I see for 4 for $40 bucks? How obscene! The Muse loves hers but didn't pay $10 bucks for the bloody thing! Revisit my review of the Lancome's Mystery Game Collection by clicking here!




It be Converse Time!


Rows of yummie Converse in fruity shades! Oops blurry pic! SA is in the back of me wondering what the hell I'm doing! Turns out he was sweet even offered to take a pic of me in the aisle with the sneakers...hmmmm...no thanks that's a bit too far!


Converse on sale? The Muse is on the case!


I ended up hauling five pairs of Converse for $120 USD! Plus no tax! Loves it! I didn't take a picture but I got a really awesome soft aqua pair that are simply yummie! They had tons for $19.98 USD which is a considerable discount as they normally range from $40 and up depending on style. I have 150 pairs to match every outfit already but I sincerely couldn't resist! It's the inner geek in me that demands I wear a pair of Converse even with a business suit!

Coach Outlet Hauling now! Look at that white shiny sign becking in the distant!


All shoes 20% Off? No tax? Ok, you talked me into it! Yes, designer brands too!




Heading to The Pier Shops! That's it on the right!


Inside:




That water looks rather nice! Think they'll mind if I jump in and frolic about!


L@@K It's the Apple Store! Must go get my geek on inside!


Ahhh Lush! Soap time!


More shots of the mall:




Where's the sale? I see alot of people down there!


Heading to MAC!




The Art of Shaving! Love that store! MAC is next store!


Below are just some miscellaneous pictures I took! Hope it's not too boring!

Wild, Wild West Casino and Hotel




The Shore (You can literally see how humid it is! Yak!)
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More Shopping at The Quarter






















All hail Caesar!