I Find It Hard to Get This Sula Beauty Creaseless

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I had grand plans last Saturday afternoon to just bum around the house and paint my nails, but that all changed when El Hub asked if I wanted to catch Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

You know how much I movies, right? So I couldn’t refuse. We decided to try and make a 3 p.m. show, which meant I’d have to get ready in a flash.

Now, El Hub and I have been together for years, so homeboy knows that when I say, “I’ll be ready in 10 minutes,” it’s actually code for, “sometime today.”

This time, that wasn’t gonna fly. My mild mannered husband desperately needed his movie fix, and from the other end of the house I heard him yell, “10 minutes really means 10 minutes this time, babe!” with a tinge of desperation in his voice.

I had to hustle.

Sitting on the table right in front of me was Sula’s shimmery yellow-gold Creaseless Creme Eye Shadow in Hard to Get ($8), one of eight cream shadows in Sula’s new makeup line.

Like creamy versions of powder eyeshadows that come in tubes or pots, these are supposed to be a busy gal’s BFF, and they’re designed to be worn by themselves, or to give depth to some of your other favorite products, beneath powder eyeshadows or atop an eyeshadow primer (I love this untinted one from NARS).

Like I often do with cream shadows, which I generally love, especially when I’m in a hurry, I applied and blended Hard to Get on my lids with my fingers.

Tabs is always on me to try more cruelty-free products, so he was stoked to see me using this one from Sula. The line doesn’t test on animals and for that gets a big paws up from Tabs. They also take a more natural approach to ingredients than many brands do, leaving out the parabens, phthalates and petroleum by-products.

With the clock mercilessly ticking, I used my favorite NARS primer on my left eyelid but kept the right one bare, and then patted and blended Hard to Get on top.

Immediately, I noticed how dense and dry it felt — even drier than a MAC Paint Pot!

It took a bit of cajoling to even out Hard to Get’s somewhat patchy application, but after two layers and about one minute of blending, I liked the end result, a quietly shimmering golden glow — not too frosty — and just about half as pigmented as the average MAC Paint Pot.

Much to El Hub’s relief, we made it to the movie on time.

When we got back home a few hours later, sufficiently traumatized by the thought of angry apes edging toward revolution, I checked my makeup in the mirror.

HTG was MIA. It had almost completely faded, and what little remained exhibited unmistakable creases.

With so many oils listed up near the top of the ingredient list, I can’t say I’m surprised…

Ingredients: Cera alba (Beeswax), Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis ( Jojoba) Seed Oil, Octyldodecanol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Silica, Tocopherol (Vit. E). (+/-) Mica (CI 77019), TiO2 (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Ferric Ferrocyanide (CI 77510), Tin Oxide (CI 77861), Carmine (CI 75470), Bismuth Oxychloride, Chromium Hydroxide Green (CI 77289)

I’m guessing that my combination skin, which has been pretty oily lately, was largely to blame. If it had been winter, when my lids are typically a lot drier than they are now, Hard to Get may have been more inclined to stick around.

Despite it not lasting all that long on my oily lids, I still like this shadow for its ingredients, soft shimmer and price, and I look forwarding to trying the other shades soon.

I can see fellow fans of Clinique finding a lot to like about Hard to Get. It’s just colorful enough to catch one’s eye without being so bright that it blinds them.

PRICE: $8 each
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Ulta stores and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B

The write stuff

I’ve been doing this new thing in the mornings with Tabs where we write in our journals on the deck. I sip my coffee while he nibbles on the zinnias…

Do you keep a journal? If you do, how often do you write in yours? I’ve kept them off and on over the years. I remember getting my first one from a Hallmark store with my mom when I was about six. It had a picture of a unicorn and a rainbow on the cover and a message that read, “Secrets, dreams and happenings” in a scripty font.

I sure did love writing in that thing — well, until my mom badgered me into showing her what I’d written. For years after that I didn’t write in it much because I was always afraid to be completely honest, fearing that she’d see what I’d written.

Funny the things we remember…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen