Maybelline New York: New Novel, Trendy, Fun! Sensational Summer Makeup Launches!
by Alison Blackman, Editor in Chief, advicesisters.com
looking for something new, trendy, long wearing, and fun? Try some of these products from Maybelline New York’s Summer 2015 launches
The Summer launches from Maybelline New York is offer a big beauty bounty for everyone seeking sensational makeup that performs like a champ, and doesn’t chafe your budget! The serene Summer palette is natural but not boring-ly nude in (mostly) subdued shades for eyes and lips (with a jolt of “hot” in a new lip pencil). There’s also a new long-wear foundation that does a lot more than just sit on your face and look pretty (and it has SPF protection so important now, and every day).
The Advice Sisters got a chance to try a bunch of these products that just popped up on your favorite retailers and e-tailers shelves this Summer:
My favorite beauty tool in the entire world is a palette that gives you a lot of color choices, and with it, lots of inspiration to try new things. The Blushed Nudes by Maybelline New York ($11.99) takes on the “nude” theme so popular on every runway, every season, and makes it modern. The generously-sized pans of powder shadow run from softly matte to slightly shimmery with a few colors in the medium to deep end of things, adding a lot more shimmer for night-time glamour. Each shade has some rose-gold to add allure and bit of “blush” (hence, the blushed nudes). The high pigment in these mean you can go bolder than you think, even though the colors are soft.
When I see a palette like this with so many pretty colors, my mind goes into over-drive. But Maybelline New York has made it easy to work with the palette showing quads, duos and trios of color and how to use them in tiny (but use-able) charts right on the back of the palette. Start with Maybelline’s suggestions and go from there, or just make whatever combos catch your fancy. This is a beautiful palette that in reality costs just $1.00 per shade. Who says great makeup has to be expensive?? Not Maybelline New York!
To compliment the new Blushed Nudes Eye Shadow Palette, Maybelline New York has come up with yet another fabulous mascara. Great Lash is still beloved, but why not try something totally new? The Volum’ Express Colossal Chaotic Lash Mascara ($7.77) has a unique “teaser” wand that is curved at the top. The idea is to use the entire wand first with the bent side UP to color lashes and flip the wand on it’s side and “tease” it across the lashes to kind of mess them up and mix them together. Pin straight is so yesterday, Chaos is here and hot right now! It’s fun and affordable to try this new eye look. The yellow case is BIG and the graphics are BOLD…you get the idea!
Maybelline New York has also launched a new, longwear liner. The EYESTUDIO Lasting Drama Waterproof Gel Pencil ($7.99) will delight women who love liner. It’s a pencil, but the translucent gel formula will last up to 16 hours (this I can attest to this). I can also report that the pencil slides on smoothly and more easily than others I’ve tried. Waterproof and smudge resistant, this liner pencil really is long wearing, so make sure you remove it with makeup remover.
The liner comes in 5 really intense shades: Glazed Toffee, Sleek Onyx, Lustrous Sapphire, Refined Charcoal and Cashmere White. While I personally fail at liner 101 and so I avoid black and charcoal, the white pencil worked like a dream to open up the eye (add a bit right in the inner corner, or line your entire waterline at the bottom, or go all the way around your lash line. This pencil, really rocks, because it won’t fade or smudge where you don’t want it to go!
Foundations come and go, but I’m willing to bet that the new Maybelline New York SuperStay Better Skin Foundation ($11.99) will find fans that keep it flying off the store shelves. First of all, it is in a pump bottle which makes a pre-measured and clean application so much easier. It also comes in a dozen shades from very light to quite dark. What makes the oil-free formula unique isn’t just that it is a longwear makeup but it has some unique ingredients. Micro-Flex Technology and Actyl-C (a Vitamin extract) help provide good coverage and something else: in three weeks (of regular use) it is supposed to reduce the appearance of imperfections. It also has SPF 21 to help protect your skin from the sun’s damaging rays every day.
The key to foundation is to figure out what shade you are likely to be. As with any foundation, looking at a color chart or staring at in the bottle and trying to guess, won’t really work well. In my photo there (left to right) Buff Beige, Classic Ivory and Warm Nude. I tried them all hoping one of them would be my color, but these samples probably aren’t my best shades yet. Normally, I would go with Ivory (it was a bit too light) and the Warm Beige (which I thought would be too dark) was the best, The right way to select a foundation shade is with a tester if your store offers one. If not, try to key it to a color you already have from Maybelline, although that’s not always going to be the perfect shade either as color ranges change. With a dozen shades in this collection, if you select a color that’s a little “off” you can still work it. The fabulous thing about the perfect shade, however, is that when you find it, your skin looks so much more amazing.
There is a companion product, a SuperStay Better Skin Concealer + Corrector ($8.99) that also has ACTYL-C and comes in six different shades (thank heavens not just light, medium and deep). Try Ivory, Light, Light/Medium/. Medium, Medium/Deep and Deep. As you can see from my samples in the photos above, the deep concealer is quite deep (women of color will be able to adjust the tone) and the Light is quite light (if you are Porcelain or Ivory you know that many concealers just aren’t light enough for you). There’s a wanded applicator tube great for travel, but once you dot some under your eye for example, you can just smooth it the rest of the way with your fingertips. These are dermatologist tested and good for contact lens wearers and those with sensitive skin.
Lip products are such an easy way to express attitude and change your mood. While lip colors and lip looks come and go, a lip gloss is always a girl’s best friend for pouty, sexy lips. While many glosses are super-sticky, Maybelline New York’s Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Gloss ($4.49) is silky with sexy shine thanks to Vitamin e to moisturize, soothe and soften and lots of nurturing oils, dozen shades in three finishes (Shimmer, Cream and “Jellies”) make your choices exciting! I tried one of each type, but all are fun to use, with bold graphics on thewanded applicator tops and a slightly fruity scent. In my photos you will see (left to right) “Pink Pizazz” (from the Jellies); “Taupe With Me” (from the Creams); and “Just a Glimmer” (from the Shimmers). None of these have much color, it’s most the shine and the formula that gives you the look. Wear them alone or over your favorite lip color…
….Speaking of which, the new Maybelline New York Color Blur Matte Pencil ($8.99) is one trendy pencil that won’t cost a fortunate. To smudge, or not to smudge? that is the question! One end of the Color Blur Matte Pencil has a soft, long-wearing, intensely-tinted lip pencil that and the other end has a rubbery smudger tip. Maybelline suggest using the pencil by filling in the lip center with the color, and then using the cushion smudger to “blue” the color to the edge of the lips. If you do it correctly, you look like you’ve just had a massive kissing session (with having your lipstick all over your face, of course). Other ways to wear this are to blot the matte, use a lip gloss over it, or simply wear the matte pencil “as-is” bold and bright. There are 10 shades to choose from and as you can see from the three in the photo, they’re all bold.
