Happy Nude Year!

Happy Nude Year!  Today is all things nude – makeup, perfume….

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a big fan of the pinky-nude lipsticks that are YLBB* so I can rock a very natural no-makeup look, or I can really amp up the eyes and not look ridiculous.  Sure, I look fine without makeup, but since I’m pale skinned and silver-haired, I can look washed out in cold, gray winter.  It doesn’t take much time and effort to look a lot more awake and alive – pop on a little mascara, a pop of blush, some soft lipcolor and boom!

Here are a few recent discoveries and thoughts on various categories in the nude theme:

Huda Beauty Power Matte Lipstick (above) – these are more satin than matte, and they aren’t all nudes, but most of them are nude-ish, and whoa the formula on these is incredible; they are unlike any other lipstick I have tried.  They apply like a creamy dream yet dry down nonsticky and weightless – they literally feel like nothing on the lips.  The differences among some of the shades is pretty subtle, so I’d recommend trying them on in person if at all possible.  I love Girls Trip and Rendezvous, and I know Anniversary is a big blogger favorite among folks with more medium-toned skin who can wear a beige-ier shade.

Believe Foundation at Dollar General – yes, it’s true; this dollar store came out with its own line of makeup and YouTube lost its mind.  The surprising favorite is the foundation, which has a gorgeous natural satin finish and costs five dollars.  I love trying foundations, so I know whereof I speak.  This stuff is good.  The other favorite (Anita and I are both converts) is their Volumin’eyes Mascara (in the purple tube), something about that wand gives a great curl and it’s not clumpy.  Worth checking out if you’re in the states, and (like everything else) I assume you can get it shipped to other countries via Amazon or eBay.

Speaking of which – I’d heard raves about this No. 7 HydraLuminous foundation that isn’t available in the US, so I found a UK eBay seller – I think I paid as much in shipping as the foundation cost, and I don’t care, because it’s got a luminous, natural-looking finish and it’s great on dry skin.

Moving on – I was browsing candles online (as one does) and I stumbled across an amusing story about how the Westin Hotels sell their (branded) hotel ambient scent online to appease rabid fans; I don’t think I’ve ever stayed in a Westin, but it sounded nice, and so I bought one.  And it is nice, unobtrusive in the way you’d expect it to be; clean musk, faintly floral, and not cloying.  The drawer sachets are really the winner, however.

Finally, I’m back into some “nude” scents (thought I’d never get to fragrance, didn’t you?) – the kind of cozy skin scents that feel wonderful in cold, damp winter.  Thoughts:

  • I dug out my bottle of Barbara Bui, which is now sitting on the hall table so I can spritz on the way out the door.  Is anyone out there still loving Barbara Bui in 2020?  Helloooo?
  • I wish I hadn’t given away my bottle of Estee Sensuous Nude awhile back…. anyone remember that one?
  • I thought SJP Lovely was the most boring thing on the planet when it came out, but almost fifteen years (!) later I’ve come to appreciate its subtle yet well-crafted charms, particularly in comparison to a lot of the scents assailing me when I walk into Ulta;
  • Frederic Malle Outrageous – you know…. the most outrageous thing about this is how focus-group-friendly this thing is, and so the name seems a bit of a joke; however, it’s a lovely skin scent, especially in summer.

What about you?  What are you curling up with these days?

 

*YLBB = Your Lips But Better, and it varies wildly from person to person, depending on skin tone, lip shade, etc. Whatever you think your best “enhanced” natural lip shade would be.

  • Ann says:

    Howdy, dear! Love all your choices for scent; in fact, I’m going upstairs in just a sec to dig out my Sensuous Nude sample and my Barbara Bui. So nice! And I remember seeing a bottle of Bill Blass Nude somewhere in my collection at one point. I don’t do well with a nude-ish lip; gotta have a big punch of color with my coloring, but I envy those of you who can rock some of those gorgeous nude lips. Hugs to you!

  • Kathleen says:

    My best nudist lipstick is Stila Patina.  I’m looking forward to exploring the Huda line.

    I have Barbara Bui EDP and it smells nice, but does nothing on my skin.  I can barely smelll it after spraying, and poof it’s gone, where did it go? Is it just me?

    • March says:

      I’m not surprised to hear about the Barbara Bui — I think some folks get a whiff of Barbie-head (the heliotrope) and then whoosh the whole thing is gone!  I get a lovely, detectable all-day skin scent.

  • Musette says:

    I’ve started letting my  hair go grey and it is changing how my face looks (light brown skin and grey/brown hair  – I end up looking like a scone).  I’m moving into more reds than nudes because Scone.

    xoxoxo

    • cinnamon says:

      this is why i now colour my hair. prior to colour, grey and black, but very cold colours so that i looked washed out and like an over grown goth. my hair doesn’t look ‘natural’ but the colour suits my skintone now, making it easier to choose makeup colours.

       

      • March says:

        It’s weird, I feel like our “natural” gray hair should do a better job of flattering the skin tone of the person it grows in on!

        • Musette says:

          If wishes were horses…..

          xoxoxo

          • Ann says:

            I really don’t get this hair color stuff sometime. The lady who colors my hair says I’ll look washed out if I go much lighter with my light brown/ almost dark blonde hair, but what does she think is going to happen when I end up totally white/silver/gray, ha?

        • cinnamon says:

          indeed, i don’t get it. but in an irony, when i was MAC colour matched i ended up NW. Clearly my hair didn’t get that message. Have colour this weekend and thinking of including more auburn in the mix…

    • March says:

      BAHAHAHA….. do you notice any difference in your hair, though?  Mine definitely got healthier and more plentiful when I stopped dyeing it, although what I saved in hair dye $ I’ve more than made up for in frizzy hair control…

       

      • Musette says:

        it’s wirier (which I expected) and oddly…softer? which I did not expect.  It’s such a weird, calico-looking mess right now…but I just slick on the Red Lip and rock it to the best of my ability 😉

         

        xoxoxo

  • rosarita says:

    Yes, I still love Barbara Bui, I’m on my second bottle since you recommended it years ago, March. It’s a cold weather staple. I have Sensuous Nude too but the touch of coconut makes it smell like summer to me. Moving on to lipsticks, I have dark hair and medium tan skin and Urban Decay Rapture is my perfect mllb color. Nude anything looks horrible on me, at 60 I need definition: some skin coverage, brows, cheek color and lips. In the US Midwest, we are surrounded by Dollar General stores so I’m checking out that asap.

    • Musette says:

      A, you will LOVE the line, I think.  I’m a huge fan of the tinted moisturizer (doesn’t appear to have SPF, so plan accordingly).  I experimented with thinning it out even more with my reg moisturizer(s), to great effect!

      The mascara is DA BOMB!  And $3.50.  Cannot beat that with a STICK, baybee!

       

      xoxoxoA

    • March says:

      That UD formula is the best!  Yeah, when I say “nude” I’m not talking about JLo levels — more soft pink with a hint of beige?  And yeah, Anita hooked me up with the Dollar stuff since we don’t have one!

  • Dina C. says:

    March, I’m also rocking the uber-pale skin and silver hair nowadays, and I find it very hard to do a nude lip. Mauve-y things make me look like I’m ready for the casket. Light pink is the best neutral when I’m not wearing fuchsia or red. I’ll have to check out the Huda beauty ones, because I can use a new one. For “nude” scents, I always gravitate to SL Clair de Musc or the more HTF Moschino L’eau Cheap and Chic. I’ve never tried Barbara Bui, but I’ve certainly heard lots of good things about it.

  • Elizabeth Watson says:

    Happy New Year, March and Posse peeps! I think I’ve spent more than $100 trying different lipsticks for the YLBB. Laura Mercier Stick Gloss in Brown Sugar comes pretty close. I think it is discontinued but there is some available on ebay. Now that I have retired I can wear lipstick whenever I want (my old workplace wasn’t the place to wear a lot of makeup). My skin is pale, and my “salt & pepper” hair is becoming more salt than pepper. I find myself wearing  less makeup than I used to anyway, but I still want something subtle to avoid looking washed out, so the nudes suit my needs well. Like Suzy Q, I think the LM Tinted Moisturizer is great! Will look for that Bobbi Brown and whoa! Dollar General? I have one right near me, so I’m off to look and see…

    • Musette says:

      you retired!  ooooh!  

      Check back and let us know what you think of the DG Line – I believe it’s called Believe Beauty (I’m too lazy to get my NONRETIRED butt up out of the chair and go look) – and… if your DG is anything like mine, you will not find it amongst the Beauty stuff – it’s hiding in plain sight on an end cap (which you will miss because 1) it’s a very dark display and 2) you will head straight for the rest of the cosmetics, just as I did)

       

      xoxoxo

    • March says:

      Yes, also curious whether you end up trying the DG tinted moisturizer and/or the foundation.  FWIW I too like the moisturizer, but the foundation is a better shade match for some reason.

      • Elizabeth Watson says:

        I got the DG tinted moisturizer and it is fab! And not pricey, so doubly fab. Also tried the foundation but the color I picked might not be the best for me. Picked up the mascara too, and it is good; I like the wand–easy to use, although I don’t use much mascara any more.

  • Portia says:

    Hey March,
    Lovely is perfectly named. I put a bunch of the Narciso Rodriguez and Hermès into a similar basket.
    Portia xx

  • cinnamon says:

    Happy new year. I have a lurgy at the moment so nothing but a ton of hyauronic acid serum with another serum on top and moisturiser. Feh. Make it go away. My bugbear at the moment is undereye shadowing. Been looking at colour correctors and different concealers (the Glossier one is nice). But on topic, I’m craving the newest Natasha Denona mini pallet thing. I have (I think discontinued) a Maybelline L/Scalled Touch of Spice which does end up looking weird pink on me (lots of things pull magenta on my lips) plus I love the Bite Beauty Lip Crayon in Pastille. Once the lurgy goes I’m planning on trying the Glossier skin tint thing, but over high SPF as it appears to have nada in the formulation. 

    • March says:

      The Natasha nudes?  Those look so pretty.  I have an order of Glossier You fragrance coming to me btw, it sounds like a “nude” scent.  For the undereye, do you have access to The Ordinary?  Their caffeine serum has done significant things for my under-eye darkness, which stunned me, I only got it bc they’re all so inexpensive and I was already placing an order…. yeah, I never count on makeup to provide the SPF, I always wear a separate sunscreen.

      • Sharon C. says:

        The Ordinary serum is available online at Sephora, cinnamon, for a very reasonable price.  Think I’ll give it a try as well.

        • cinnamon says:

          Tx, March. Will have a go with the caffeine serum. Alas, Sharon C, we don’t have Sephora here. I can order online though from several places.

           

          • March says:

            The other two I like (if you are interested) is the squalane as a skin moisturizer, and the AHA peeling solution.  It’s a liquid you spread on your face for 20 mins and it leaves the skin very soft.

  • Suzy Q says:

    Hi March! A few months ago you posted about looking for a YLBB lipstick. I was going through a rough time. I thought researching lipstick would be the perfect  antidote. It was! I haunted Sephora for a few weeks. It was fun. Like you, I found Nars Apoline to be perfect. But then I  discovered Bobbi Brown Neutral Rose. It’s my lips but Way better. I’ve been meaning to thank you for months for this fun diversion. I’m doing much better now, btw.

    I haven’t found a perfect foundation yet but I love Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer. 

    Nude perfume? I’ve been wearing a sample of Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir. This fits. Bill Blass Nude is an obvious choice. I haven’t worn it for years, so can’t comment on how it smells.

    • March says:

      Oh, I am so glad things are better. And lipstick is such a cheerer upper — isn’t it funny?  Nothing else grabs me quite the same way.  I love that Bobbi, so pretty!  The LM moisturizers all pull a tad warm on me…. have you tried the new Shiseido synchro-something foundation? Very natural finish.  And how could I have forgotten BB Nude?  Must investigate….

  • Tara C says:

    I have similar coloring, so I need a bit of makeup to not look lifeless. Just a touch of under-eye concealer, Hourglass Ambient Lighting face powder & blush, eyeshadow & mascara, and a sheer plum tint on the lips and I’m ready to go.

    Sadly I gave away my Barbara Bui years ago, wish I still had it now. But I still have plenty of easy to wear scents like Rochas Absolu, Bottega Veneta, Five O’Clock au Gingembre and Cuir Beluga.

    • March says:

      Hooboy those Hourglass!  I think I have ….. four at this point?  Three of them palettes.  The new Ghost is phenom, it’s got blush in there too!

      I keep BV and Gingembre at work, lol, for emergencies.

    • AnnJune says:

      Hi Tara – I have like-new full bottle of Barbrra Bui, box and all,  I’ve been trying to swap away for a while and would be happy to pass it on.  If that’s something of interest to you, please email me at ammerry 2 @ yahoo dawt com (no spaces in the actual address).  Thanks!

  • Richard Potter says:

    Zoologist Bee!