Physicians Formula New Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting 2-in-1 Bronzer & Blush

Hi girls! Things still haven't slowed down since the holidays so I hope you'll excuse my reduced posting.  I read about the latest additions to the Physicians Formula Happy Booster Collection over at Musings, and I truly expected I wouldn't see any of these until February. It just so happens I needed a new shower pouf and headed to my closest CVS last night to pick one up and spotted a couple of the new displays! They had the new Eye Kohl Trios, the two Happy Booster Lipsticks (I got I <3 Nude, which isn't nude at all but is rather like a less-glossy MAC Ever Hip... comparison pending), the two new Happy Booster blushes (pink and warm, didn't get yet b/c I want a sale price), and Bronze/Rose and Bronze/Natural Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting 2-in-1 Bronzer & Blush!

 I just got Bronze/Natural.

Under the powder is a mirror and brush compartment, just like the original Happy Booster bronzers.

Left to right: bronzer, top heart (more of a highlighter and doesn't really show), middle heart, bottom heart

Super-cute, right?
Unfortunately, as the swatches show, it's quite lacking in pigment.  It smells really nice, is very adorably packaged, and goof-proof because of the lack of pigmentation. I had to really work for the swatches and the bronzer didn't show up on my NC25 face at all (though it did sort of work like a light-diffusing finishing powder).  I think this would be good makeup for a teen and it certainly doesn't look bad, but it's over-priced at $14.29 for something so unpigmented.  I'm going to carry it for blush-refreshing and cuteness but it's no workhorse product.  It's really a let-down because the original Happy Booster bronzers are much better!  If you want a festive Valentine's Day compact I'd go with the original Bronzer or Light Bronzer.

DUPE SMACKDOWN #5: DIOR AURORA

Dior Aurora (Full name: Diorskin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer Powder in Aurora 001) is a gorgeous, sold-out, limited-edition satin-finish peachy bronzer from Dior's Spring 2011 collection.  Many of my favorite beauty bloggers have expressed that they've hit pan on theirs recently.  I often wind up disappointed when I spend more than $40 on a product, but I don't regret a thing about Dior Aurora (it was one of my September Favorites!).  It's the perfect no-brainer cheek color. 
I'm not sure if there are any readers out there who missed their chance to get this one, but just in case you were hoping for an affordable dupe, it just so happens I've lucked into TWO of them!
Honorable mentions: NYX Blush in Terra Cotta is a very similar peachy bronze, except it is an absolute shimmer bomb.  NYC Bronzing Powder in Sunny $2.99, is a matte bronzer of a similar intensity, but completely lacks the peach of Aurora.

Dupe Contestant #1 is Gold Coast, a blush in the Stila Loves Roxy Palette $14, LE but still available.  It's the top blush in the palette.

Dupe Contestant #2 is Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in 60 Coffee Cake (cute name, right?).  This is being discontinued, which is how I happened upon it; I saw it on clearance and when I got it home and tried it on my cheeks I found its glow really familiar! Retail price is about $7.49, but check your local drugstore to see if they've got it on clearance (I got mine for $4.40 at Meijer).

Both of these look more shimmery than Aurora in the swatches, but their shimmer blends away to leave more of a satin finish that more closely resembles Aurora.

In natural light (shade), left to right: Dior Aurora, Maybelline Coffee Cake, Stila Gold Coast

In natural light/artificial light mix

In warm artificial light

This Dupe Smackdown is a little different from the previous four.  I'm not really seeking a "Winner" this time.  Dior Aurora is a long-gone limited-edition product that I think is just fantastic enough to make me want to hunt down a similar color to get the same glowy-effect on days I can't be bothered to apply several different products.  Both Stila Gold Coast Blush and Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Coffee Cake satisfy this desire!  I did the classic test of applying Dior Aurora to one cheek, and it's potential dupe to the other, and found that both of these look and wear just as well.

Dior Aurora is on my right cheek, and Stila Gold Coast is on my left

FOTD: Stila Sheer Color Tinted Moisturizer in Medium, Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 4.75 (a little too light), Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles in 60 Brightener (the pink one), Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Silk Eyeshadow in 6 Khaki Pulse, Majolica Majorca Lash Expander Frame Plus Mascara, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in Black, MAC Hue Lipstick
Betsey Johnson Earrings
Express Sweater

Someone wanted to see how this top looks on me, so here you go!

Haha, obligatory office bathroom picture!

Tag Again! Top 10 Cosmetic Products Right Now

The other tag I got from the knock-out Penelope of Inspired by Beauty was a Top 10 Cosmetics award.  These are my current besties in no particular ranking:

1) Vivo Per Lei Peel ($28 at amazon.com)
2) Origins Vitazing ($35)
3) E.L.F. Personal Blend Foundation in Light ($8)
4) Bare Escentuals Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush ($20)
5) Cherry Culture Lip Balm (free with purchase at cherryculture.com, bubblegum-flavored)
6) Bath & Body Works Liplicious Double Delish Lip Gloss in Peanut Butter & Jelly ($4, bronzey-berry tint and tastes like grape lollies)
7) MAC Lush Amber (lustre) Lipstick ($14.50, LE Semi-Precious Collection, beautiful nude)
8) Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Light ($4)
9) Illamasqua powder blush in Lover ($24)
10) Ojon Damage Reverse Instant Restorative Hair Serum ($25 for 1.7 oz., lightly fragranced of warm spices mmm! Somehow I managed to forget it for the photo... weird)

Friday is tomorrow... huzzah!

REVIEW: E.L.F. Warm Bronzer and Golden Bronzer... "Bronzer"? Not so much.

All right, it's Saturday at last! DH and I slept in until 10:30 (ah, I remember back when I slept in 'til noon, but when your usual wake-up time is 5:30, five hours later is probably enough!)  On days when I can sleep in I don't really need much help from makeup to achieve a bright-eyed, glowing face, but for the other 300 days in a year it helps to turn to bronzer, blush, and highlighter/illuminator.
Fridays can be the worst.  I have the long week of sleep deprivation behind me, so I thought I would give these E.L.F. bronzers in Warm and Golden a whirl.

Sorry, they look identical in this picture! Warm is on the left, Golden on the right. 

Allow me to get right to the point.  IMHO, these are NOT bronzers.  For me, a bronzer doesn't just impart a glow, but it darkens the skin (preferably to a natural, tan color, though many lean orange).  On the plus side, neither of these had orange to them.  Each quadrant shade looked a bit different from the others when swatched.  When swirled and heavily swatched Golden definitely looked less pinky-peach than Warm, however...

E.L.F. Warm Bronzer, each quadrant swatched then swirled together to the right

E.L.F. Golden Bronzer, each quadrant swatched then swirled together to the right

I'm only NC25 and I haven't really gotten a tan this summer... these barely show up!  At least, they are a little bit different from each other.

Top Row is Golden, Bottom Row is Warm

I couldn't get the level of pigmentation shown on my hand to translate to my cheeks with any myriad of brushes (even eyeshadow brushes), and the hand swatches are all finger-rubbings, and nobody wants to finger-rub their face products!

On my cheeks, I couldn't tell one bronzer from the other, as their difference in depth was so minor.  Both did, however, impart a fine shimmer glow that I tried out a few ways:  applied just to cheeks, applied all over, and applied just as highlight on cheekbones.  I'd recommend these just on the tops of cheekbones, but you really don't need both of them.  If you want an all over sheen to the face, these actually do a decent job of that while evening out skintone imperfections though it's definitely a made-up look I'd save for evening.  The powders' sheen surprisingly didn't highlight my pores or fine lines much (I think they  managed to achieve more of a "blurred imperfections" effect).  On cheeks, it looks like I covered my blush with my regular facepowder to mute it.  This is actually useful to correct an accidental over-application of a pigmented blush (I tested this to see if it would work with Illamasqua Lover, and it worked a charm).  An anti-clowncheeks solution!

The packaging seems nice and sturdy, the mirror is large, and these look like they cost more than $3 for sure.  They were simply categorized improperly, if you ask me.  They make really good highlighting/finishing powders in the spirit of YSL Touche Eclat.  You don't need these if you have a separate powder highlighter, but I still think it's nice to have one of them.