Beauty Crush: Kinerase C8 Peptide Intensive Treatment

The closer I get the twilight of my 20s, the more emphasis I put on skin care and preventing serious signs of aging. I love a good serum and I am obsessed with antioxidants. One of my absolute favorite vitamin and antioxidant-enriched serums is Kinerase C8 Peptide Intensive Treatment. This lotion-serum hybrid goes on super light, absorbs easily and makes me feel like I'm really protecting my skin from the elements. Kinerase is one of my favorite skincare brands because there's real science behind it and the products just work. 

C8 not only prevents future damage, but takes on past damage (really regretting those teenage baking in the sun years now) to improve skin tone, texture and fine lines and wrinkles. Fancy ingredients like Snap-8 and Kinetin help fight aging at every level, while Green Tea and Vitamin E fight off free radicals. Vitamin C brightens and boosts collagen and Beta Glucan stimulates skin regeneration. 

At $98 for a 1oz. bottle it is an investment, but a little goes a very long way so this definitely lasts. Pick it up at Sephora or kinerase.com. There's even a special offer where you can try C8 for $15 for 30 days. Kinerase recently came out with a new membership program where you lock in a low rate for home delivery of C8 every three months, in addition to receiving 20% off select Kinerase products, and a free sample of Extreme Lift Face. Check out info on that here.

RIP: Shu Uemura

Ok, so this isn't a true RIP, because products will live on forever on shuuemura.com, but it was announced today, via WWD, that the recently L'Oreal-acquired Shu Uemura will be closing its US doors. Although it's sad, I definitely get it. Shu Uemura is one of those brands that has absolutely amazing products, but the masses just haven't quite gotten on board. 

Since you can still purchase to your heart's desire on the website, it won't be a mad dash to stock up on eyelash curlers and cleansing oils, and you can even enjoy free shipping with a purhcase of $50 or more.

Get the Look: Keri Russell at the Leaves of Grass Premiere

Maybe I have a soft spot for the first season of Felicity, but I love Keri Russell. She always looks polished and put together, yet natural and not overly made up at the same time. Her look at the premiere of Leaves of Grass was no exception. Created by celeb makeup artist Tina Turnbow, Envision Beauty skincare and tarte cosmetics were used to give Keri defined eyes, softly flushed cheeks and a neutral lip. Check out the details below for products used.

Complexion: "For a healthy complexion, I used a tinted moisturizer and created a peachy-pink cheek."

    * Prepped the skin with The Solution by Envision Beauty ($79), a lightweight, multi-use facial moisturizer    packed with antioxidants like goji and acai.
    * Used tarte's the eraser 4-in-1 natural concealer in fair 02 ($21) for spot treatment.
    * Applied tarte's smooth operator oil-free tinted moisturizer with SPF 20 in Agent 06 ($36) all over face.
    * Dusted tarte's provocateur powder pressed mineral powder with SPF 8 in light 04 ($30) all over face
    * On the apples of the cheek, applied tarte's natural cheek stains in tipsy topped with dollface ($30).

Eyes: "I wanted a soft, smoky charcoal eye with voluminous lashes."

    * tarte's flower child refillable natural eyeshadow palette ($44)
          o In the crease: matte buttercup & shimmering peach combined for a gold shade
          o On the lid: shimmering gray periwinkle
    * Lined eyes with tarte's emphasEYES™ natural high definition inner rim eye pencil in charcoal ($18)
    * Coated top lashes with tarte's lights, camera, lashes! 4-in-1 clinically proven natural mascara($19)
    * Applied tarte's bottoms up on lower lashes ($16)

Lips: "I wanted to create a nude lip with a hint of pink sheen."

    * tarte's double-ended lipliner in dizzy blonde (pinky nude) all over the lip ($19)
    * Topped with tarte's vitamin infused lipgloss in om ($21)

Essie the Art of Spring Collection

Spring fever continues over here at BITNB and I finally got around to trying the Essie Art of Spring collection, which I'm currently obsessed with. Essie is definitely my favorite nail care brand, simply because no matter what shade you choose - from bold red to pale nude - it always looks so wearable. The Art of Spring collection features six new shades that are each creamy and opaque, ranging from pastel to bright. 

Shades include (from left to right):

Lilacism - a creamy lilac with blue undertones

Neo Whimsical - a dusty pastel rose plum

Pop Art Pink - a true, pastel pink

Red Nouveau - a fiery red

Tart Deco - a creamy coral

Van D'Go - a peach cream with pink undertones

Everyone keeps talking about Tart Deco but my favorite of the bunch is Van D'Go. I love a good peach, and this is an opaque, full coverage shade that stands out without being over the top. Check out my diy mani below. It's a little low quality due to the fact that I took it on my blackberry, but you get the idea. 

Head over to Essie.com to purchase, or Amazon where you can get them for about $4 instead of the usual $8.

Invasion of the Scrubby Cleansers

I've been noticing a major trend as of late - scrubby cleansers. I'm not talking about an exfoliating cleanser with beads, these new cleansers come with little scrubby tools attached to get the deepest clean possible and have been popping up en masse at drugstores. I like to call them the poor man's Clarisonic. Clarisonic is a super popular cleansing system that utilizes a brush to majorly deep clean. The only downside? Prices start at $149 for the Mia. Clarisonic is well worth the investment, but sometimes you just can't rationalize dropping that dough on a brush that cleans your skin. Enter, drugstore scrubby cleansers. 

Exhibit A: L'Oreal Go 360 Clean. Each of the four cleansers - deep, deep for sensitive, deep exfoliating and deep cream - come packaged with a cute little scrublet to clean pore by pore. For some reason I expected the scrublet to be hard and plasticy, but it's actually super soft and rubbery. I sampled the Deep facial cleanser and it definitely delivered. My skin felt so soft and really clean, with nary a flake or clogged pore in site. Plus it's a steal at $6.99.

Exhibit B: Garnier Nutrioniste Skin Renew The Brusher Gel Cleanser. So the name is a mouthful, but this cleanser delivers. I'm a fan of Nutrioniste cleansers as it is because they're very nourishing and detoxifying, and the added bonus of a brush attached right to the cleanser is huge. This is similar to the Clarisonic idea, except you have to use your own elbow grease in lieu of batteries. Skin is left deep cleaned and soft. Pick it up for $6.99.

Touch Up on the Go with Tarte and Benefit

I'm one of those people that loves to bring every piece of makeup I used to get ready with me when I go out at night so I can do touch ups. Eyeliner wears off, bronzer fades, so I desperately try to stuff a million products in my 1-inch by 1-inch sized clutch, which never seems to quite work out. That's why I was thrilled when I discovered Benefit to Go Beauty Bestsellers and Tarte Deluxe On the Go kits, which contain deluxe travel sizes of key products. They're a great way to touch up on the go, or sample a product you've wanted to try on the cheap.

Included in the Benefit to Go Beauty Bestsellers:

- 0.08 oz Posietint: A poppy-pink tinted lip & cheek stain
- 0.06 oz Some Kind-A Gorgeous: The foundation faker
- 0.25 oz That Gal: A brightening face primer
- 0.09 oz High Beam: A luminescent complexion enhancer  

Retail price: $10 ($30 value)

Availability: now at Sephora and on Sephora.com

Tarte is offering two sets - high definition eyes deluxe kit and bronzing deluxe kit. 

Included in the high definition eyes deluxe kit: 

- deluxe tarte's lights, camera, lashes! clinically-proven natural mascara

- emphasEYES(TM) inner rim eyeliner in black

Retail price: $15 ($28 value)

Availability: now at Sephora and on Sephora.com until August

Included in the bronzing deluxe kit:

- tarte's deluxe park ave princess mineral powder bronzer

- mini glam-on-the-go kabuki brush

Retail price: $15

Availability: May-August at Sephora and on Sephora.com

New for Spring: Bobbi Brown Color Strips

After a truly heinous winter filled with snowstorms galore, the sun is out, the heavy sweaters have been packed away and I'm officially in a spring frame of mind. This is about the time of year where I just want to toss all of my deep berry lip shades and smoky gray shadows in favor of sheer, shimmer pastels. But lady is on a budget so an entire new spring (makeup) wardrobe is usually out of the question - except for this year. Bobbi Brown's new Color Strips collection is a complete makeup palette that will take you from snowstorms to spring in no time at a very nice price of $60.

I'm a total sucker for palettes because I travel so much and am always looking to pack light (doesn't happen) and have all of my goods in one spot. Each of Bobbi's Color Strips palettes - Aquamarine (blues and grays) Bonfire (bronzes and browns) and Orchid (purples) contain five eyeshadows and three pot rouges that can be used on cheeks and lips. Check out the shades below and literally just choose your favorite. Even when Bobbi does color it's so natural you can't go wrong. Get thee to a Bobbi counter or head online to bobbibrowncosmetics.com.

Aquamarine:

Bonfire:

Orchid: