Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid Daily Sun Protection SPF 55

I thought I'd start rolling out a few of these sunscreen reviews now. I'll start with a product that I use year-round, the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid Daily Sun Protection SPF 55. This is a sheer liquid sunscreen designed mostly for use on the face. It has a very runny consistency and sinks right into the skin. This throws me off somewhat because I find that I'm never sure how much of it I need to put on to guarantee an SPF of 55. You always read that people never put on enough sunscreen to get the SPF on the label and if I were to use a shotglass worth of this product to cover my face and neck everytime I use it, I would have to buy a new bottle every few days.

Without knowing whether or not the SPF works as promised (and not really being able to gauge that well when using any sunscreen), I'm going to limit my reviews to product consistency, general texture, color and odor, ease of use and a general like or dislike of it.

Chanel Ombres Contraste Eyeshadow Duo in Sable-Emouvant

This is a long overdue review of the Chanel Ombres Contraste Eyeshadow Duo in Sable-Emouvant. Do I regale you with excuses? No. But I want you to know that each post is written with care. That I do use the products as extensively as I can (and if I roll out a post having used it just once or twice, I would state that) and I take this all possibly a little too seriously that I do not permit myself to publish a post without going over it numerous times. If it isn't up to par, it remains a draft. Sometimes, it takes time.

The Chanel Ombres Contraste Eyeshadow Duo in Sable-Emouvant is an easy choice. I saw the entire summer collection and immediately asked for it. A Chanel associate at my local Nordstrom told me that they were initially sent only a few of the duos to sell and they had sold out in a couple of days. But I wanted it so much that I couldn't even wait for them to ship it to me. I went out to another store and bought it that day.

Sunscreen Parade

We had such glorious weather this past weekend that it's hard to believe it's not truly summer yet. My husband and I chose between going to the Jersey Shore where we normally go and checking out Ocean City, MD. We opted to drive down to Maryland (something of a new fascination as we had been to other parts of Maryland twice this year already) and I am so glad we did! The experience turned out better than our multiple trips to Cape May and Ocean City, NJ. Even the drive itself, while slightly longer, was vastly better. We left rather early, which helped us avoid traffic. But I have this impression that the roads are wider and there are more and better options to stop at in case we wanted to grab some food.

Some of the sunscreen products in my arsenal

Being something of a cheerleader for sunscreen, I packed several varieties for our day. I applied Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblock SPF 55 all over the body and Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Daily Sun Protection SPF 55 on the face before leaving the house. I used Neutrogena Wet Skin Sunblock Spray SPF 30 when we got to our destination and sprayed anew every hour. Although I like going to the beach and sitting on a chair under a wide-brimmed umbrella, I do not actually like going into the water or walking under the sun. My daughter enjoys playing in the sand but I try to keep her under the shade as much as possible. On her I've been using Up & Up Baby Sunscreen Lotion SPF 50 before going to the beach and I pack the items pictured below in a transparent bag as shown. On both of us, I also used the Kiehl's Ultra Moisturizing Eye Stick SPF 30 which I talked about in a previous post. No sharing. I bought my own.

My Daughter's Sunscreen Pack

I can't tell you which of the various sunscreens in our arsenal are the best ones but I am planning to get some bullet points out about each item within the next few weeks. I'm glad to say that despite three days of sun exposure, we have not tanned. I am a little surprised that despite heavy bombardment by the media of the ill-effects of tanning and the need for religious sunscreen use, people still flock to the beach and lay there under the sun. Many are visibly baked or burned within hours and even if I see some applying some kind of sun lotion, they still desire to lay exposed to the sun for long periods. I can understand people that like to play volleyball at the beach or engage in watersports but tanning like it's a sport? If beach umbrellas were free to borrow, would people still be laying there on a towel at the beach without some form of cover? I bet they would. Many are probably tired of hearing that heavy sun exposure can be bad. But can I say it again? Heavy sun exposure can be really bad.

Pen Concealer Roundup: Givenchy Mister Light Instant Light Corrective Pen

Almost two years ago, I reviewed the Chanel Eclat Lumiere Highlighter Face Pen (you can read the review here). I bought this in an effort to replace a Clinique concealer that I had been using for about ten years. Despite my lack of satisfaction over the pen-style's propensity to waste product (when you click and click and nothing comes out, then all of a sudden, product comes gushing out and becomes unstoppable) and my concerns about the brush being a harbinger of pimple-inducing microbes, I simply cannot live without one. I make an effort to combat the flaws of the design by clicking only once or twice and giving the product enough time to release into the brush. Then I wash the brush every so often. Product still gets wasted but I'll live with it until somebody can come up with something better.

I won't go into details about the texture and consistency of most of the products I'll be discussing as they're pretty much all the same. They're all liquid formulations. That means no wax. The Chanel Eclat Lumiere Highlighter Face Pen comes in five shades and the shade Medium fulfills my needs.

Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Tumulte

Lately, I feel like I've forgotten how nice it is to browse a counter, play with a few items, find something you love and then buy it. I've begun to fall into the trap of perusing catalogs supplied by associates or hounding online sites for preview pictures and then pre-ordering stuff simply based on what is visually appealing. In the past year, I have ended up buying collections where only half of the products really work for me and I'm determined to pack up that habit and go back to browsing before I buy.

Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Tumulte

Laura Mercier Nail Lacquer in Lavender Cloud and Zoya Brizia

If pastel is your thing, the Laura Mercier Belle Nouveau Collection for summer has a few items for you. One such is this nail lacquer in Lavender Cloud. It's a milky lavender that offers full opacity in two coats. While I felt certain that the shade wasn't completely unique, the two closest shades that I have in my collection aren't an exact match.

Laura Mercier Nail Lacquer in Lavender Cloud

Soleil Tan de Chanel Luminous Bronzing Powder in Sable Beige

Soleil Tan de Chanel Luminous Bronzing Powder in Sable Beige

"Cheeks glow in sunny gold with Soleil Tan de Chanel Luminous Bronzing Powder in five sensual tones with gold accents. Blended together, they create a seamless bronzing effect. Used separately, the dark tones sculpt and the light shades illuminate."

I took the above quote from the Chanel website some time ago and for some reason, I can't locate it now. I had copied it down for this post because I loved the way that it described the new bronzing powders. There are two shade options for this summer, Sable Beige and Sable Rose. Sable Beige, photographed in various degrees of lighting for this post, is pegged to have warm shades of beige and brown. This is the last bronzer that I am going to buy this year. For my needs, this is the only one that works on all levels.