Beauty-fuls: Prime Time review-a-thon!

When you paint your walls...you prime them...

When you paint a car...you prime it (which btw is a suuper big trend right now to leave cars in a matte condition)

When you paint your nails...they get primed (well base coat but it's basically the same thing right?)

So it stands to reason that when you paint your face it should be primed :)

Face/ Makeup primers have been all the rage for a couple of years now but boy o' man-a-chevitz they have come a long way from the shellac feeling they used to give you.

The newest primers are lightweight yet totally effective and actually give your skin extra love (besides their normal duties)

The big job of a good primer is to-

◦ Smooth the skins surface

Even out skin tone

Create a perfect surface for your makeup

Disguise skin flaws and imperfections

Pamper and nourish your skin

Create a protective base for longer-lasting foundation

Reduce redness and inflammation

Moisturize your skin and keep it hydrated all day long

Stop oil and shine

Makeup primers work especially good for those with oily skin by reducing excess shine

Protect your skin from the harmful UV rays, some primers have a sunscreen and SPF 15 or more

Makeup primers create a perfect makeup base

Makeup primers fill in fine lines and wrinkles

Make enlarged pores appear smaller and less visible

The makeup glides on smoothly and blends easily

Here are our top 4 picks! (and 2 of our least fave to save you a few clams)

As much as we dislike Smashbox Makeup, their Photo Finish primers are really good. Just don't goop them on or they will get...well...goopy.

Smashbox seems to have the most cutting edge of all the primers in terms of duties they perform.

Not only do you get "perfect" skin with a matte and oil free finish but their primers are filled to the brim with anti aging ingredients and spf. They firm, moisturize, protect and vitalize!

WHAT?!? Perfect looking skin and more perfect skin just by using it? Um yes please!!!!

P.S. We loved using this and we had no idea they did all this fun stuff...we are on our way to pick up more right now!

Makeup Forever's HD line of makeup is amazing...well the foundation is a little crazy and thick, but every other product they make for HD and the regular line is amazing.

Ladies with dark circles..try their HD Concealer...you'll kiss us!

Anywhoo....Makeup Forever's primers are just as good as the rest of their products.

They are lightweight and oil free and create the perfect canvas for the rest of your face paint.

But the best part? Not only does it make your skin look smooth and soft but it comes in 6 different shades to help "correct" your skin!

MUF (hee hee) just came out with a new one that has 50spf!!!

Wow...no more extra step of putting sunscreen under the primer and waiting for it to dry. Silky smooth and UV protection...Done and done!

The other day we opened our new Vogue (YAY! good one) to find a coupon for L'oreal's newest addition...Magic Perfecting Base.

So being the super good and proficient bloggers we are (who are we kidding...we looove new makeup products...we are girls!) we ran our and picked up a tub o' this stuff.

Yes, it's odd that it comes in a tub but once you get the hang of dipping your fingers we think you will super heart it as much as we do.

It totally smoothed out our skin and gave it an almost velvety texture that was so good we didn't need any other makeup (besides blush and concealer of course) on top of it!

You have probably never heard of Pop Beauty UK but you should make friends with it. We got our Face Magnet Primer from Ulta and it's super good!

It fills in lines and pores a little less than the silicone based ones like Smashbox and MUF but it goes on so silkily and smooth it had us at hello.

It has caffeine and Vitamin E in it for firmer, less puffy, more matte and healthier skin. Perfecto!

Ulta usually has $5 off coupons in magazines so keep a lookout for it.

While doing the research for this primer post we came across this next primer.

We are dying to try Dior's version. Considering that everything they make is pretty fantasmic...we are guessing their Skin Flash Primer is just as amazing.

And now the 2 to pass up when you are strolling thru Tarjay or Sephora aimlessly (you know you do it) grabbing everything you think you need...

Rimmel London

It's peach tinted and goes on much like a moisturizer...which is not a bad thing at all it just doesn't do much of anything besides make your skin look a bit orangey.

It also does nothing to control the oil so when you put makeup on top of it...it slides off..

So take that $6 you would spend on that and by something else you can't live with out.

Laura Geller

It's called Spackle which is what made us swoon with cute thoughts. Nope, they should change the name to Shmackle. It costs as much as the better ones and just puts a sheer layer of what seems to be just silicone. It feels and acts very much like the 1st ones worked BITD (back in the day) and we felt like it wore off pretty fast and took our makeup with it.

P.S. Here is some super great info on eye primers for under your shadow...again, from your fave blog...

Get primed and ready to go! We are!!

xoxo things we heart

Beauty: Dear Santa.....

Dear Santa,

With all the running around and wrapping and giving we have been doing these days, we forgot someone really important. US!

So, Santa Baby while we still have time to ask, here is our wish list for beauty products!

You know how much we love eyeliner, and bright colors, and playing with makeup... Well, we would be the happiest little girls in the world if you brought us this Aqua eyes collectors set! 25 full size, Makeup Forever beautifully hued, eyeliner pencils!!

Santa, you can just pick it up at Sephora, you know you are going to pass one on Christmas eve... They are everywhere!

Wanna stuff our stocking? Ewww, get you mind out of the gutter, we are talking about SANTA!

Here are a few of our favorite trinkets!

Oh delicious curly eyelashes! This 24K gold plated eyelash curler from Shu Uemura is like a little work of art. So pretty, and it works!

Speaking of Pretty and working, well we have been working so hard these days... It is super hard to stay pretty! You can help us Saint Nick!

Well, you and Ole Henriksen... Slip a little of the magical serum into our stocking so we can boost our collagen and smooth out wrinkles in a natural way. Do this now Santa, because the lasers we will need if you don't may not fit in your sleigh!

We would also love a new color of lipstick! Right now we are really craving a beautiful shimmery gold-nude tone.

Like this yummy Honolulu Honey shade from Nars. In this shimmery tan color we can feel like natural island beauties!

But that is not all,

We really want to shimmer all over! So maybe we can get a complimentary nail color?

Oh, Chanel Golden Sand! You hit the nail on the head! (hehe) This is the perfect New Years Eve on a tropical island pretty party color!

Oh, and while your in the Chanel section, if it is not to much to ask...

We really heart that Chanel Jade color too! It is really hard to find! We are sure you have connections.

Don't worry Santa, we are almost done!

Wouldn't it be so nice to be able to go to the nail salon with our new nail polish and get a mani/pedi... But not have to use the tools everyones else used! Gross! Santa! We know you care about our health! Who wants to end up with a Staph infectionwhen all you are trying to do it get pretty gold nails?!

So, we would super heart this professional mani-pedi kit! We can toss it in our purse along with our polish and have the nice ladies at the nail salon use our tools!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Just one more item is making our Beauty product list this year... Deluxe Antibacterial Brush Kit!

Because a gal can never have enough makeup brushes.

Now Santa, we don't mean to be greedy. We really don't, but we work so hard taking care of everyone else... We like to get spoiled sometimes too.

We know you agree Santa Baby.

Merry Christmas Santa you big cutie!

We heart you.

XOXO- Things-We-Heart

Beauty-fuls: We heart concealer! Oh do we...more than ever!!!

Not enough sleep? √

Allergies from Spring flowers or Fall leaves? √

Stress? Um...yeah have you met me? √√

Kids? √

Jill Greenberg

Getting older?  Ahhhhhhh!  Don't remind me! √

Well those are just some of the reasons we (not you!  just some of us!!!) get dark under eye circles (yuck yuck...why me!?!?) under our eyes.


Some of the causes you can take care of (sleep and um allergies...) but the others (kids, stress..the dreaded thing called getting older) are just part of life...so what's a girl to do?

Dark circles are usually caused by heredity (some of us...me...have had them since jr high) so no amount of allergy medication, laser treatments, and creams will get rid of them....sorry!  Trust me...I have tried...

There are sooo many millions and gazillions of "remedies", miracle creams ($$$ and they are poop on a stick), and foods out there that they say will fix them...but um nope...not in this house.

But have no fear gorgeous ladies!  The girlies of Things We Heart are here!

bellissimo vita

We have tested and tried soooo many concealers out there, our makeup drawers (yes that's plural... obsessed much?) look like mini Sephoras.

So now, we bring you from our years of tears...our trials and tribulations...our heros! (and a couple of expensive zeros)

We heart good...no, no...GREAT concealers!

Thank you, oh thank you creators of Make Up Forever!  Not only do you bless us with your fantasical array of colors and beautiful primers (more on that later) but you have given us a reason to get out of bed in the morning (well we always do, but a reason not to scream when we look into a mirror).

Your HD Concealer is the tops!  The coverage is supreme and literally makes our tired eyes look bright and awake.  It's super easy to blend and lasts all day.  And to top that...there are soooo many shades its crazy...thank you!  Thank you for helping us look alive even under the mean lights and cameras at our castings.

Oh, but beware..the silly silicone applicator is really pointless.  Use your ring finger (the best makeup brush in town) or a concealer brush to apply



Our faithful reader and gorgeous follower, EF, swears by this next one...even though we doubt she needs it.  Cle De Peau is her dirty little secret.

She lurves this one sooo much she has recruited us too!  And guess what?  She is super right!

If it wasn't soooo expensive we would buy her a tube to say thank you ;)

Cle De Peau (we can't pronounce it either...don't worry) is so beautiful and light yet it totally covers up our dark secrets.
The coverage is totally blendable and perfectly pigmented to cover any imperfection and best of all...it doesn't crease!


One horrible day this summer...OK not horrible, horrible...but for someone with dark circles to lose their concealer...it's pretty darn horrible...I misplaced my beloved concealer and the lovely JN came to my rescue with her personal fav...by Laura Mercier.

LM's Secret Camouflage concealer is worth its weight in diamonds!  Not only does it cover with velvety, and deep pigmented coverage.. you can use very little and no powder is required to set it ...it comes with 2 shades, 1 to match your skin and the other to help "eliminate" those pesky UEC (Under Eye Circles).

Plus if it's from the Queen of Natural and beautiful make up...it has to be amazing!


When we the luckiest girlies at t.w.h. got our beautiful products from Jouer...we had no choice but to buy their concealer after falling in love with their other gorgeously made products.

And guess what?  We super lurve this product too!

It's creamy and perfectly pigmented and colored to make your circles a thing of the past!  Oh and the best part about it? It's anti-aging!!!!  What?  Yup it contains pro-Vitamin A and Dermaxyl to help combat that horrible thing that happens everyday that passes.

Quick note...put on top of foundation...if you use it...and set with powder.  It can be a tiny bit slippery.  If you don't use foundation, still set it with powder.


Now here's one to try and one to not waste your hard earned clams on.

Giorgio Armani (yes the God of crisp and chic fashion) has given the sufferers of endless circles a light at the end of the tunnel.

We have heard soooo much about this concealer by Mr. Armani's beauty Gods that we can not get in the car fast enough to run over to Saks or Nordstrom (I know, I know...shmancy!  But hey...if it works?  It's worth a extra hour or 4 at work...right? And at $35..it won't hurt too much) to get our paws on it his Master Corrector Concealer. 



And the one to pass by when you see it in the aisle looking so great and wonderful? Amazing Concealer by Amazing Cosmetics.  

This is not amazing! Yes it is highly pigmented, which means you only have to use a little...but it's highly chalky and drying too.
And worst of all?  It hates moisturizer.  They actually have little wars under your eyes when you put them together.  Bummer.  And for $40...no thank you.



P.S. The #1 remedy? A big smile...because you are beautiful no matter what!!!

xoxo t.w.h.

Oh yeah PPS...SHAME ON YOU KANYE!

Beauty-fuls: Lights, Camera... Action! We heart HD Makeup!

Flat screen- Check!

HD cable- Check!

Watching Animal Planet or Sex and the City in Hi Def- Heck ya! (Wow those SNC gals look amazing...even in Hi-Def)  Check!

Best friend with an HD Flip Mino- Check!  

Ready for our close up-  um...NO! Check? NO...wait!!!

For anyone that has been shot with HD or watches HD you may notice how EVERYTHING is more noticeable...  You have a small fine line?  Well that's OK, just have the make up artist put a touch of Eclat on it... Yeah.. not in HD people.  That fine line is now a huge valley in the wrinkle kingdom.  

HD makeup to the rescue! 

Thank you, oh beauty Gods,  for creating HD makeup.  Its fine milling is similar to mineral makeup but big difference are the light reflectors that create a flawless finish and they can help to make your skin look younger or like a Jill Greenberg photo (well, the skin at least..and you'll be laughing not crying)...
And, ummm YES please!  

So here at T.W.H. we like to test as much as possible so we can properly report back to you on our findings (soooo scientific of us, I know)... Here is how I came to find HD makeup..

I must admit I got on the mineral bandwagon.  It was after seeing my stunning T.W.H. partner, Miss Me, wearing it at my birthday last year.  I just about died..  She looked FLAWLESS.

So, of course I asked what was up (mind you, she is flawless and stunning even when she wakes up!!!  But this birthday night she was even more glowy and  her skin was more perfect than usual that caught my attention.  I must find out... I need her skin!

I went (ran) to Sephora and bought (into) the kit.  $60 later, yes, I had the glow, but and hour after i was greasy and shiny and my face felt like it had concrete on it.  So, I took another route. I wanted something to make my skin look more Miss Me, Leighton Meester perfectionesque but with out the heavy oily feeling.

So I found the next few items that have really changed the way i look at HD make up for better or for worse...

1. Smashbox HD Healthy FX Foundation-  

Ding, ding, ding!  We have a winner!  This foundation is great!  Over primer (theirs or any other good one)  this one did the HD trick.  Lightweight, totally blendable and (almost) perfectly airbrushed skin without shimmer or that annoying "glow".  But keep a good powder on hand.. if you have oily skin you will need it.  

Plus its made with Vitamin C and has SPF 15 for healthier skin and it's not tested on animals!!! YAY

2. Makeup Forever HD Microfinish Powder-

Now I absolutely despise their HD foundation.  SO heavy, soooo Brenda Walsh in the '90's.   Sure, I had great looking skin in pictures but it looked like colored spackle up close and in person.   But their HD Microfinish talc free powder is fantastic.  Color free so any skin tone can use it and it just soaks up oil (ewwww..but it does) and virtually airbrushes imperfections.

3. Christian Dior Capture Totale for all our fancy pants girls (or boys)-

This one does it all!   Well, we hope so for that price.  But it does... it plumps, evens out and perfects  skin.  Its beautiful finish literally creates and HD ready look.  Amazing!  

And with SPF 15 and collagen boosting ingredients we are sooo gonna crack open the wallet for this one.

4. Cargo-

This was the first one I came across.  I think it was the packaging and perfect marketing that lured me it.  I bought the primer (pricey and so little in the tube) and it turned out to be the same primer as a lot of the others.  Nothing new or life changing.  But the Blu-ray blush is great!

P.S.  We are so for natural beauties...we lurve lines and crinkles.

It simply means that you have lived, loved, lost and traveled on the highway of life...  this post was just to help our lovelies that don't embrace wisdom lines as much as we do.. 

P.P.S.  Sorry for the looong post... jeez louise..too much coffee.  But we hope it was informative ;) and helpful and now you don't have to do the research yourself..right? ;0

Now go have fun... play dress up and enjoy being a girl!

xoxo t-w-h