Special Effects Makeup

With all of the new product innovation that has spurred such competition amongst beauty brands, a few cosmetics stand out as being particularly unique.  Special effects have given us products that allow us to look flawless while doing the following:


1.  Glowing in the dark
Wow everyone at a party or club with fluorescent makeup!  These products provide a pop of color both day and night.  During the daytime, they provide ordinary pigmented color and react with UV light to glow in the dark.  For your lips, try the Stila After Glow Lip Color ($18 at Sephora), which is a long-wearing moisturizing lip crayon that comes in two bright colors: fuscia and tangerine.  Then, dust the rest of your face and/or body with the Make Up For Ever Fluo Night ($31 on www.makeupforever.com).  This finely milled loose powder comes in a variety of colors (including a translucent white) and can be mixed with other cosmetics to enhance colors and turn them into fluorescent formulas.  Both of these products are limited edition products (the Fluo Night is an older product and a little harder to find), so scoop them up while you can!  And you can't forget about the nails.  The Glow in the Dark Nail Polish ($6 at American Apparel) is a convenient, affordable option.  

2.  Sleeping
The biggest beauty crime is not washing off your makeup before bed.  However, the bareMinerals Pure Transformation Night Treatment ($60 at Sephora) changes what we think about sleeping in makeup.  It's a pigmented powder that works its magic as you sleep.  Formulated with minerals, this powder hydrates, smooths, minimizes pores, and brightens so that you wake up with a more even skintone and a luminous glow.  The feature that really differentiates it from other night treatments is that it provides coverage.  You fall asleep with a flawless complexion and wake up with a more naturally flawless one as well ;)

3.  Swimming
Want to look fabulous from the beginning to the end of your next pool party?  Well, with Make Up For Ever's Aqua products you can.  It features a collection of waterproof eye cosmetics (shadows, liners, mascara, and eyebrow corrector) and lip cosmetics (pencil and color).  The line even contains an Aqua Seal ($21 at Sephora) that allows you to convert any powder eye cosmetic into a waterproof liquid one.  However, the Aqua collection is missing waterproof face cosmetics.  But don't worry because the Make Up For Ever brand does make a Face & Body Liquid Makeup ($40 at Sephora) to provide waterproof coverage for

the face and body.  Since oil and water don't mix, many waterproof formulas tend to be super oily or waxy.  However, the Face & Body Liquid Makeup is nice, since it's water-based, so no breakouts!  And fix those more specific imperfections with the Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Waterproof Concealer ($22 at Sephora).  Feel free to dive, splash, and frolic in the water without worrying about smudging or running!

In general, you should reserve these products for occasional rather than regular use, with the exception of the Pure Transformation Night Treatment (since it's a gentle skincare + cosmetics product).  The ingredients that make a product glow in the dark or waterproof can be harsh, but vary based on each product.  I usually advocate healthy products only, but some of these products do contain parabens as well as other toxins.  But honestly if you're using them once in a while, it's not a huge a deal.  Also, there are only 1 or 2 of each of these product types currently on the market, and there aren't any healthy alternatives available.  The take away?  These products are super fun, and you should definitely use them for the occasions for which they are meant :)