Honest Beauty Reviews: Dyson Air Wrap, Anastasia Brow Pencil, + More.

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I’ve been testing tons of new beauty products lately — a serious source of joy for me! Notes and thoughts below. (Side note: my robe above is Lake, and I love it as a light top cotton layer in the summer. But Petite Plume also just sent me one of their adorable patterned pima cotton robes, too — and it’s on serious sale!)

+Dyson AirWrap. Will share complete thoughts after I’ve gotten the hang of this, in about a month. I just received this in the mail and used it yesterday for the first time (photo above just afterward). I am astounded by the bend and sleek / smooth finish I was able to achieve (and it was my first rodeo!) — salon-level results. However. I learned that your hair must basically be dry — 90% dry with just a tad of moisture left — because it really doesn’t dry so much as style, at least with the classic attachment. I watched a few YouTube videos that confirmed this. This is a bit of a bummer because I have SO MUCH HAIR and it takes forever to dry, especially at the roots and crown. I ended up rough drying with my cheap, jet engine Conair (the lady is a workhorse — she’ll blow your house down, but for that same reason, she’s very unwieldy for styling / achieving anything that looks smooth or polished) and then using the AirWrap as the final step. I was slightly overwhelmed by all the AirWrap attachments but I understand at least one or two can be used to dry the hair first. I will report back. But the early results: I don’t know where this has been my entire life. If you have fine hair “that has never done an interesting thing in its life” (a quote from a Magpie reader that could not be a more accurate description of my hair), this is for you. Thinking this will fall into the major RWI (regrettably worth it) purchase category. Please join me on my journey. (And if you are among the Dyson cognoscenti, please share your tips! I thought this YouTube video was helpful but I was rushing and it was basically the first one I found — I know some of you have uncovered beauty bloggers that offer even more in the weeds info on the AirWrap!)

+While at a BBQ last month, I could not stop staring at my friend’s perfect eyebrows. Finally I asked: “Did you get them microbladed? Please tell me everything.” She had not, but raved about this ultra-slim precision-point eyebrow pencil, which I immediately purchased. You have to be precise with the application (it’s not a swipe and go situation), but it is a Godsend if you, like me, did not survive the thin brow pandemic of the 90s. I still have areas I need to fill, and daily. A few weeks ago, I saw a video where someone talked about “female eyebrow blindness” and shared that she had been mis-waxing her brows for a decade — like completely taking the inner-most half-inch of her eyebrows off, and it had warped the symmetry of her face! I have been wondering ever since whether I am in some way suffering from the same blindness? I keep staring and realizing how asymmetrical my own brows are. Now, as one makeup artist put it recently: “eyebrows are sisters, not twins,” so I know they are commonly differently-shaped / thicker on one side / etc but I think mine are seriously off-kilter. I’ve been using the Anastasia brow pencil to better balance things out and the pencil marks are SO convincingly realistic! I’d suggest going a shade darker than you think you need in this, FYI. Coincidentally, new-to-me beauty brand Billion Dollar Beauty sent me a few products to try, and their Brows on Point, which is about $10 cheaper than the Anastasia product, is basically identical. I use them interchangeably. But! Anastasia has tons of colors available so you can closely match your own hair color. Strongly rec either!

+Ubeauty Return Eye Cream. I have been alternating between this rich, plumping eye cream and the Be You caffeine cream (which I use when my eyes look puffy). Both are excellent but UBeauty is my daily go-to because I love how it hydrates and creates the perfect canvas for applying undereye concealer. I turned my mom onto this! Maybe she’ll corroborate in the comments. (Use code JENSHOOP for 20% off.)

+Guerlain Abeille Royale Advanced Youth Serum. My girlfriend gave me this for my 40th birthday! We love giving one another fancy beauty/skincare products. It smells divine, feels divine, leaves skin moisturized and gleaming. I specifically like to use this as a pick me up at the end of my work day. I glide it on right over my day-old makeup and it softens and refreshes everything. I am actually 2/3 of the way through the bottle and already feeling apprehensive about its completion. I would put this in the same category as Vintner’s Daughter and Thomas Grove. All of them feel like hydrating, glow-enhancing oils — but Guerlain is much runnier/thinner.

+Necessaire Body Cream. OK, where have I been? I don’t know why I’ve missed out on this brand for so long as I know many of you swear by it. I guess I usually prefer a scented lotion — but this stuff is incredible (and currently 20% off). It is so thick and hydrating, and I’m obsessed. The brand’s tagline is “treat your body like your face,” so its products are packed with skincare-grade ingredients. The lotion includes firming peptides, vitamins, Niacinamide. A no brainer.

+WOW Dream Coat. Hooked. Love this so much — the key to achieving one of those ultra-sleek blowouts, a la Jennifer Aniston. You’ll notice a different handfeel — smoother, almost glossier, than your regular hair. I started with the travel size and bought the full size shortly after. This was a Julia Amory rec — and her hair is A TEN!

+Iris + Romeo Best Skin Days Treatment Concealer. Wow! I am so picky about concealers and hate 90% of the ones I try, but this one is excellent. Really good if you have dark circles under your eyes like I do. If I’m getting fully done up, I still contend that Kevyn Aucoin’s SSE is the only way to fully erase the circles, but I do use this for everyday ease. It has the consistency of a standard concealer (not like SSE, which is like thick, unctuous face paint), but offers solid coverage. Easy to apply.

+Iris + Romeo Mascara. This is a big night out mascara. She’s dramatic, she’s brash, she’s maybe BRAT summer. I love her because I personally like a heavy mascara in the evenings. I inherited this from my cousin, who used to participate in beauty pageants. I looked up to her like no other. I remember her showing me how to apply mascara: “I like it big and goopy,” she said. Still following her orders. She’d love this one.

+Amika Mousse. It’s fine. I don’t know, I need something for volume at the crown of my hair, and I think this does an OK job, but I don’t think it’s groundbreaking — maybe 20% more volume? I’ll keep looking. (Any recs?)

+True Botanicals Nourishing Cleanser. I’ve tried a bunch of great cleansers this year — love Osea’s, love Honest’s — and this one is also at the top of the list. I specifically like it because of its divine smell — sort of like sunscreen and herbs, but in a spa way. I smell it and I literally feel thrilled and delighted. It also leaves skin really clean — a tad more drying and astringent than Osea and Honest. Which sometimes I like. Especially after a long run or a day in the sun with sunscreen all over my face. Currently 20% off, FYI! (If you’re in the market for something more hydrating, try Osea; if you’re looking for something ultra-gentle, try Honest.)

+RMS Beauty Legendary Lipstick. The formula is nice — balm-like, hydrating — and the colors richly pigmented. These are lipsticks that serve looks. Good for evening versus everyday.

+Honest Mascara + Primer. A great mascara for under $25. It’s marketed as delivering “big, bold lashes” but I think it’s better described as a “natural plus” everyday look. The formula is especially good at separating lashes, and I like the lash feel after — soft, not brittle.

+Roz Hair Mask. Wonderful treatment for dried out summer hair. I specifically like this because it’s not as heavyweight as some of the other masks — you can use it without feeling like your hair is weighed down or coated; it feels more like a conditioner that rinses out easily and leaves hair less tangly and more hydrated. If you’re in more dire straits, I’d use the Crown Affair mask, which will realllllly give you big, hydrating results.

+111Skin Rose Gold Radiance Booster. I use this when I’m getting ready for an evening out and want my face to be beaming and radiant. I apply it all over my face, almost like a lotion/primer, for max effect. Really pretty result. Nice to have, not must-have. I still find I apply a bit of Saie or Merit highlighter as a final step, but this is nice as a way to enhance the skin’s base-line glow.

+Koba Foot Cream. A great foot cream, and I really needed one as we finish out sandal season. I still think nothing will top the La Roche Posay foot cream we all obsessed over five years ago (no longer exists), but Koba’s is hydrating and effective.

+Remedy for Dark Spots. I have been applying this religiously for a month now. I noticed this summer my face is super sensitive to sun, probably because of the Vitamin C and other resurfacing products I’m using, and that I’d developed some dark spots especially above my brows! This has gradually lightened things up, although I have also been hyper-disciplined this month about slathering on sunscreen and wearing a hat, so both could be working together. I’m inclined to continue to use it until finished and will report back then, but I will say I’ve noticed an evening out of tone in the affected areas, and I think it’s 70% this product and 30% being better about SPF/hat wearing.

Currently testing: Epres hair repair kit (20% off with JENSHOOP); Eadem exfoliating toner and Milk Marvel dark spot serum; Oribe’s hair spray; Billion Dollar Beauty’s Foundation Stick.

Things I want to try: Crown Affair’s Dry Shampoo and RMS Beauty’s Sun Coverup Skin Tint.

What are you using and loving?!

P.S. My Everything Shower lineup.

P.P.S. European pharmacy favorites.

P.P.P.S. We are in a constant state of rewriting.