Alima Pure Happily Ever After Collection for Holiday 2010

Alima Pure's Happily Ever After Collection for Holiday 2010 ($25) continues the fairy tale with an eye shadow/highlighter, blush, and eyeliner to make our princess pretty for all her events.

Dark magic attempts to thwart our beautiful princess, but, of course, good magic is stronger, and she is able to use the Poison Apple to her advantage. As in all fairy tales, the princess lives Happily Ever After with some new tools at her disposal.

Our princess must have heard that you make more friends when you wear blusher! Here's what's in Happily Ever After.

• Magic Wand is a magical, do-anything nude shimmer with multi-toned sparkle that can be worn on the eyes, cheeks, or décolleté. One nice thing about mineral makeup? There are no rules. Wear it where you wish.
  
• Poison Apple is a rosy blush with a peachy shimmer.
• The End is the final touch - an almost-black eyeliner, sparked with diamond-like silver shimmer.

These are beautiful colors. On my eyelids, Magic Wand is a pretty base shade. It lights up my look. Poison Apple is a gorgeous, warm blusher - the one that lured me to try additional blushers from Alima Pure. My issue will be selecting only one or two, or even six. There are about 10 that appear to be must-haves in the Alima Pure brochure and online. The blush is available in two finishes, Luminous Shimmer Blush and Satin Matte Blush. There are bronzers too!

My swatch photo at right shows all three Happily Ever After shades, applied to my arm with a sponge-tipped applicator. The photo was taken in full sun. I'm sure you won't have any trouble figuring out what's what: top to bottom, they are Magic Wand, Poison Apple, and The End. The End was applied in my photo as a shadow, but it looks lovely as an eyeliner - the perfect charcoal for daytime.

You'll need to apply The End with a damp brush. Alima Pure provides some application tips on their Web site.

Learning to use mineral eyeliner may take a little practice, but it’s totally worth it. Here are some great ways to make it easier.

• Dampen your brush (water is fine; eye drops work well) at least slightly to help the minerals adhere.
• Work the liner into the brush a bit to minimize sprinkling onto your cheeks.
• Once the color is on the lash line, you can smudge it with a dry brush if you want a more subtle, diffused line.

With practice, you may be able to forgo the dampening of the brush and just work the liner into your dry brush, but at first the damp brush will help you get a precise line with no eyeliner on your cheekbones. If you do end up with a bit of eyeliner on your cheek, just blot it off with a damp tissue and touch up with your foundation or powder if necessary.

I can tell you that it works to simply use a damp liner brush. I don't get liner on my cheeks. My issue is keeping the powder in its jar, but that my be a personal problem. I was never great at tennis either, with my inferior hand/eye coordination. Want to know more about Alima Pure and mineral makeup? Download Alima Pure's free eBook, Mineral Makeup 101.

Naturally, Alima Pure makes the perfect brushes with which to a apply their mineral makeup. You can check out the brush lineup at this link. With synthetic bristles, you can be sure that no animals suffered for your beauty routine.

Did you see the Once Upon a Time feature this morning? Both sets were sent to me by Alima Pure, and they captivated me when they arrived, with their pretty colors and cute little birds on the caps. I'll be a frequent online visitor.

There are often special offers at Alima Pure. Right now and through November 24, you'll receive a complimentary Kitten Brush with your purchase of two full-sized face products! Choose from Satin Matte Foundation, any of the blushes, bronzers, Balancing Primer, Color Balancing Powders, and Shimmer and Satin Finishing Powders. The offer excludes eye shadows, eyeliners, and concealers, but you ought to be able to find two face products you love. I could do that in a heartbeat. In fact, I probably will - tonight. Those two blushers I could buy so easily will be headed my way.

Don't forget that $2 of every Holiday 2010 purchase goes to the Global Fund for Women. Alima Pure thinks that beauty is more than skin-deep, which is why their cosmetics are all-natural. So, you can look and feel beautiful with makeup that is gentle on your skin and easy on the planet.

I'll finish this feature with a nice quote from Alima Pure. What is beauty?

• It’s the way you smile
• It’s your captivating talent for telling a story
• It’s the way an intriguing idea changes your expression
• It’s the infectious laugh that makes you adorable
• It’s your quest for answers to curious questions
• It’s the time you put in to make the world a better place
• It’s the way the morning sun lights up your face
• It’s your ability to listen with grace
• It’s the lines on your face that define your character
• It’s your passionate, compassionate love of life
  

That's the way I think about Alima Pure - simply and naturally beautiful!

Update 11/17: Check out Alima Pure's FaceBook site!

Photo at top courtesy of Alima Pure

Alima Pure Once Upon a Time Collection for Holiday 2010

Alima Pure - pure, natural mineral makeup that doesn't sacrifice style and the latest "it" colors for the rewards of using natural makeup. I was sent a sample of the Holiday 2010 sets by Alima Pure, and I was immediately excited by the shades as I dabbled with them upon arrival. To use that hackneyed expression, I felt like a kid in a candy store.

The colors in the sets are gorgeous. I also received a brochure with little swatches showing all the shades available - blushes, eye shadows, eyeliners, bronzers, foundations, and more. The range was stunning. Now that I've worn the makeup, I have a wish list that's way too long. I'm going to have to pace myself. How could you, though, when there are at least 10 blush shades you really need to try?

Alima Pure makes its mineral makeup using only the purest cosmetic-grade mineral pigments. There are no additives, fillers, or fragrances that can irritate your skin or clog your pores. In fact, the natural mineral pigments Alima Pure uses are actually good for your skin, providing sun protection and helpful anti-inflammatory properties.

Have sensitive skin? You won’t find any potential irritants, such as bismuth oxychloride, talc, dyes, fragrances, parabens, phthalates, or preservatives in any of Alima Pure's natural cosmetics. Alima is so pure that they earned the BDIH European seal of approval for natural products. Alima Pure products are never tested on animals, so they get Charlie's seal of approval too.

Because Alima’s pure colors and mineral pigments are so rich and long-lasting, you don’t need much powder to do a beautiful job. Available in a rich variety of shades, Alima Pure eye shadows, liners, and blushers, the products I tested, apply smoothly to enhance your complexion. You can get great coverage while letting your skin radiate its own natural beauty.

This line is new to me. Yes, mineral pigments are a little messy, but those of you who are hooked on M·A·C Pigments or other loose powder makeup won't mind at all. I could get used to these. As I've experimented, I've developed a technique to ensure that I don't end up with color where I don't want it (eye shadow on cheeks or all over my sink).

There are two Alima Pure Holiday 2010 collections. Let's look at Once Upon a Time (only $25) now and Happily Ever After later today. The Once Upon a Time Collection, introduced for Holiday 2010, has a magical theme and supports a good cause.

Once Upon A Time there were four gorgeous eye shadows in beautiful shades that sparkled with goodness. The eco-friendly eye shadows were beautifully packaged and very budget-friendly. Every princess in the land wanted the collection, and the smartest princesses bought it for themselves because it was a limited edition.

This is so cute, I'm not sure how to recover from cute overload. I'll concentrate on the eye shadows. That should help. Steady, girl!

The eye shadow pots I was sent to sample, seen above, are not full-sized. No matter - they are absolutely adorable with their bird-print screw-on caps. Enchanting! The four Once Upon a Time shades are, from left to right, Glass Slipper, a soft silver yellow; Spun Gold, a deeper golden shade; Enchanted Forest, a soft taupe sprinkled with gold and silver shimmer (exquisite); and Fairy Godmother, a medium purple with a generous serving of silver sparkle.

Naturally, I swatched and wore them right away. The swatch photo at right shows the shades in the order in which they are listed above. I applied the swatches to my arm with sponge-tipped applicators. When applied with a brush, the shades were much more subtle - the way I've worn them to work - perfect for day wear. My photo was taken in full sun.

All four shades are very pretty. I can even wear the purple! It has enough blue in it to make it work on my skin. It's not my favorite of the four, but it's nice. The other three shades are drop-dead gorgeous. This set is a hit at my house, cute fairy tale or not.

Want to try Alima Pure, but these aren't your shades? There are a three finishes from which to choose: Luminous Shimmer, Pearl Lustre, and Satin Matte. Within each, there are lots of colors. I'm attracted to the holiday sets because you save a few dollars. Not only that, $2 from every set purchase goes to the Global Fund for Women. I love brands that give back!

There's so much to tell you about Alima Pure. They have a great Web site, filled with information, and their blog is interesting (a great discussion of natural health and beauty). They also have a Facebook site and a Twitter account. Check them out - you won't be disappointed. This is mineral makeup a makeup snob can love!

Later today, I'll tell you a little more about Alima Pure and show you Happily Ever After, another great Holiday 2010 collection. If you get the time today, please check out Alima Pure online.

Photo at top courtesy of Alima Pure