Senna’s Sunglow Collection: Necessary Luxuries

Hi guys, I am so excited to share with you the latest cosmetic collection by the always-brilliant Eugenia Weston of Senna Cosmetics.

Eugenia, brow guru and Emmy-nominated makeup artist, owns Senna Cosmetics, a studio-quality cosmetic line. Senna is a favorite of Hollywood film and television makeup pros, beauty editors, and A-list celebrities, and Eugenia herself has worked her magic on too many famous faces to name!

In addition to the cosmetic line, Eugenia owns five Senna studios in Southern California, where she provides makeup and brow services. I’ve written about Eugenia before, and I recommend her products to everyone I know…I also suggest subscribing to her free mailing list–even if you don’t buy the products–just to keep current with the most contemporary looks for each season. (You can call her toll-free number, 800.537.3662 to subscribe!)

But you don’t have to be a movie star to afford Senna products. I love how financially accessible they are. Plus, every year Eugenia has a huge blowout sale around the holidays, with irresistibly-priced products (like lip glosses for $1!) that make fabulous Secret Santa gifts and stocking stuffers. Last year I ordered one gloss in every color for my beautiful niece.

Eugenia even has a “Last Chance” page on her website that features full-size lipsticks, which retail for $18, slashed to only five bucks!!! Seriously? You simply cannot beat that price! It’s cheaper than drugstore makeup!

Mineral eyeshadows and mineral makeup, lip liners, eye liners, concealer sticks…you name it…all marked down to incredible prices…and the formulas are outstanding.

All of Eugenia’s products are smartly crafted to provide benefits to the skin. Many cosmetic companies are guilty of ‘sprinkling’–that is, putting in just enough beneficial ingredients so that they can make product claims, but not enough to really make a difference in your skin. Eugenia’s products, on the other hand, are made with the utmost integrity; she uses the best quality ingredients, and she uses them liberally. With a single swipe of one of her beautiful lip lacquers, you will feel the difference. Infused with all kinds of goodies–such as shea butter, grape seed oil, jojoba oil and mango seed butter, they’re also spiked with vitamins that moisturize and protect the lips.

I am so impressed with the new Sunglow Collection, above, which Eugenia uses to create two pivotal looks for summer that will transition into fall. ‘Emerald Isle,’ pictured top, features a ripe orange pout with a jewel-toned eye, and below, the ‘Bronzelite’ look, is a wash of monochromatic neutrals.

And now, here are the essentials:

Brilliant Bronze, $42. I’m infatuated with this brilliant baked-mineral bronzer that highlights the very top of the cheekbones, but can also be dusted over the entire face for a sun-kissed look.

You may have seen baked pigment like this before courtesy of Laura Mercier at Sephora. I actually own two of those eyeshadows and love them. The process of baking the minerals is rare due to its expense, but it yields an ultra-fine consistency because of the unique hand-made process.

Theda Weston, daughter of Eugenia, told me that this bronzer contains real pearl powder from fresh-water pearls, to give your skin a soft luminous yet natural glow while the amino acids and proteins of the pearl powder hydrate and nourish the skin.

I love the way this bronzer looks due to its soft fine consistency and perfect color, and it’s a really fun product to play with. It yields a good color payoff if you decide to build it. You can use it as an eyeshadow wet and it gives such a fine sparkle, not chunky at all, that is reminiscent of moonlight. But since I already own a billion eyeshadows, I’m using mine just for the face. And the great thing about this product is that it does double-duty to actually improve the quality of the skin, typical of all Eugenia’s products. It comes in two colors: Dawn, above left, for a paler skin tone, and Sunset for the darker complected.

Powder Point 33 brush, $38. Use this brush for application of the bronzer. I deem this brush a necessity for every woman’s collection. It’s made with the softest goat hair imaginable, intelligently shaped and tapered for the perfect blush/bronzer application. Use the opposite side for loose powder and blending.

Like all of Eugenia’s brushes, this wooden-handled one is of the highest quality, meaning a better application and end result. Every artist needs the proper tools, and this one is reasonably priced. If you’ve never owned one of Eugenia’s famous brushes, this is the perfect one to start your collection…or if you’re anything like me–a collector of makeup brushes–then you can add this to your current makeup brush wardrobe because it really is the perfect size and shape.

Cream Lipstick, $20. The collection contains two beautiful lipsticks that I like to wear together: Down to Earth, a warm yet sunny toffee–perfect with a tan–and Midas, a gold metallic.

This lipstick is a velvety, hydrating, long-wearing formula with hyaluronic acid spheres to bind water to the skin, along with vitamin E, shea butter and jojoba oil. I love the way Eugenia applies serious skin care to these extraordinary lipsticks. They have a gorgeous satin finish and don’t bleed. Perfect in every way!

Lip Lacquer, $20. Eugenia has created two on-trend lip lacquers–Sunstone, a copper bronze, and Bonfire, the optimum orange.

Sunstone is a metallic bronze that you can wear solo or over the cream lipstick for added shine and an ultra wet look.

Bonfire, on the other hand, looks fabulous on a bare mouth. Both glosses contain natural mineral pigments that reflect light to give the illusion of smoother, fuller lips. The vanilla-scented formula is long-wearing. It really sticks around, looking ripe and juicy the entire time. The Lip Lacquers comes in 13 more mouthwatering shades, but Bonfire, in all its coral glory, and Sunstone, in shimmering bronze, are just exquisite.

Again, Eugenia uses more skin-improving ingredients in these glosses, like vitamins A, C and E, as well as grape seed oil, a powerful antioxidant that helps fight damage from free radicals. And finally, the best skin emollients such as jojoba seed oil, mango seed and shea butters all help moisturize and protect.

Ultra Last Eyeliner, $20. This velvety eyeliner goes on super smooth and gives you a little play time if you want to smudge it, before it sets to a defiant, budge-proof finish. It really stays put and won’t bleed, even in the lash line. I love its performance. It glides smoothly, doesn’t tug on the delicate eye area, and yields a deep, sooty, truly waterproof black! A great eyeliner at a great price!

Also, it rolls up like a mechanical pencil. With no shaving and sharpening to fuss with, this eyeliner always stays on point.

Glow Eye Color, $18. The jewel-toned eye is a big trend in makeup that you will see into fall. You can easily achieve this look with two of Senna’s eye shadows: Emerald, a brilliant green, and Rose Gold, the perfect fleshy shimmer.

If you’d like to meet Eugenia, check out her Beauty Classroom, where you can see her applying the makeup on a model. Here you will pick up some of the greatest tricks of the trade from a master–my friend, Eugenia Weston. You’ll absolutely love Eugenia and all her products!