I first tried the O-Glow when my bridesmaid, Chin, brought it back with her to Malaysia. She’s a big fan of Smashbox, and recommended this blush to me. As it wasn’t available in Malaysia, or, until quite recently, Melbourne, I jumped at the chance of getting this in the US. This came as a part of the Best of Smashbox Beauty Kit.

The O-Glow is a gel blush. Just in case you’re wondering 🙂

Description:

An intuitive cheek colour with Goji Berry C-Complex(TM).
Experience instant chemistry as you watch your complexion go from so-so to oh-so-glowing! This intuitive cheek color reacts with your personal skin chemistry to transform from a silky clear gel into the shade you blush naturally.
O-GLOW is packed with our exclusive Goji Berry-C Complex™, ginkgo biloba, pomegranate seed for antioxidant protection, and revitalizing marine botanicals for added healthy-skin benefits.

Ingredients:
Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Isononyl Isononanoate, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Punica Granatum, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Polysilicone-11, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Plankton Extract, Red 27 (CI 45410)

When the gel is squeezed out of the tube, it’s clear. But when you spread it on your skin with your fingers, the gel reacts with the heat from the fingers, oxidizes with the air, and turns it into a lovely shade of pink. Ah the joy of science in makeup :p

Is it just me, or are most of Smashbox’s products full of silicone? The texture of this gel is exactly like the one of the Photo Finish Foundation Primer. Very silicone-y, if that’s even an actual word.

It’s easily spreadable on the cheeks. It’s quite sheer, which makes the colour very buildable. In comparison with Benefit’s Posietint, the Posietint is a tad darker and gives better colour pay-off. This might not be good news though, because if you’re not careful with the Posietint, it could give you bright pink cheeks. With the O-Glow, you get a sheer pink flush, which I think is more natural to your natural blush. Just add more and spread it on the apples of the cheeks for a brighter glow.

The staying power is not as long as the Posietint (the latter could last all day and night even if you swipe at it hard), but it does last for at least half a day. This can be worn underneath or over face powder.

Just like the liquid blushes, this one stains too, so be careful when using them. Also, when you’re not using the blush, keep it tightly capped, or else the air will oxidize the gel and turn it pink. Plus the texture will turn rubbery.

I really like this gel blush because it gives me a very natural flush. Plus it’s portable too. It can be easily slipped into my makeup bag or my purse for that matter.

Smashbox O-Glow is available at Sephora at USD26 for 15ml, which, quite frankly, is quite pricey compared to the Benetint or Posietint. Even though the latter is sold at only 12.5ml at USD28, you’d end up using the O-Glow more as it’s quite sheer. This is also available here in Melbourne, at Zuza, and Perfume Connection at Docklands Harbour Town. I can’t recall the exact price of the blush, but I reckon it’s around AUD50-60. I’ll check it out when I’m in the city and update this post when I find out the correct price.

What I like about it: Gives a very natural glow to the cheeks, and lasts quite long.

What I do not like about it: Silicone-y texture which I’m still not very used to.

I saw this tip when I was checking out the book Rae Morris: Makeup – The Ultimate Guide at Borders last Friday, and I thought I had to share it with you. Rae Morris is a top makeup artist in Australia, who has won the prestigious Australian Makeup Artist of the Year award four times over. She’s also the Makeup Director at Australian Fashion Week.

In other words,  the real shizz.

How to choose the good quality – not necessarily expensive – makeup brushes. I’m going to let you in on one of the best kept secrets in buying making brushes, and it’s so simple.

Whenever you want to buy a makeup brush, balance it on its very tip. Hold the brush vertically on the back of your hand, bristles down, and lightly bounce the brush to test the strength of the bristles. The bristles should only have a slight bend; if they splay, or flatten completely, then the brush will be too difficult to use, and the makeup will go everywhere except where you want to put it.

When you are doing detailed work such as applying eyeliner or defining a brow, you need to add a little pressure with your brush as you apply it. If you have a bad brush, the slightest pressure will move the bristles from 1mm to (if it’s really nasty) 5mm. That is a huge distance when you are talking about an eyeliner.

– Rae Morris: Makeup – The Ultimate Guide

I have this thing about lipbalms. I love wearing flavoured ones during the day. I might even be scarily addicted to ’em bad boys. The only time I don’t use flavoured lipbalm is when I go to bed. Every night before I hit the sack, I’d put on some lipbalm to make sure my lips stay moisturised. The problem with this dry weather is that I get chapped lips very frequently. Somehow I don’t like having flavoured lipbalm on when I’m asleep. After I brush my teeth and head to bed, I cannot have anything flavoured. It’s weird, I know.

This is where the Vaseline Lip Therapy comes in.

Description:

Temporarily protects and helps relieve chapped or cracked skin and lips
Helps protect from the drying effects of wind and cold weather

Active Ingredients: White Petrolatum USP (100%)

It’s basically Vaseline in a tube. And it is absolutely fantastic on my lips.

Since I wear it to bed, I apply the lipbalm very liberally. I even apply it well over the lip line, as that is where my lips gets easily dry and cracked. It sometimes got so bad that it became very red and swollen, and for a while, I’d look like I had permanent lip liner on. It was not a pretty sight, that I’d tell you.

The Lip Therapy tastes like, well, Vaseline. It’s very bland, which may not tickle everyone’s fancy. To me, it’s tasteless. All the better to sleep in. Oh, there’s one with a cherry flavour as well. I only bought that one when either the original one was out of stock at either Guardian or Watsons. The cherry flavour isn’t strong.

I like the fact that it comes in a tube. The tinned Lip Therapys are cute, but I feel that it’s unhygienic to scrap it with my fingers in order to apply it on my lips. Plus the tube’s smaller to carry around with anyway.

On the negative side, I do not like the spout. When I squeeze the tube of petroleum jelly, it shoots out like a worm. It’s difficult to spread it over the lips. It would be so much easier if Vaseline came up with the slanted head instead.

See the “worm”?

All in all, I think the Lip Therapy is a great lipbalm for soothing cracked lips. Two nights with this on would 100% cure my painfully chapped lips. You can even apply it on your dry elbows and/or cracked heels. It’s great for traveling when you don’t have to lug a tub of it along.

The Vaseline Lip Therapy Advanced Formula is priced at RM9.90 at Watsons or Guardian. For some odd reason, it’s not available here in Australia. I’ve checked the local pharmacy and drugstore – zilch. Only the ones in the tins are available. If you do see it here, do let me know.

What I like about it: Small and portable tube, great for chapped lips.

What I do not like about it: Round spout for application (better if it had a slanted head); does not contain SPF.