Bare Escentuals Takes Texas: Goodbye From Houston!

Signing off—very sadly, but with great B.E. love—from the Try, Believe, Love Texas Tour! There was amazing turnout at Houston Galleria today; Charles, the store director, says there were over 700 booked appointments, and numerous walk-ins thanks to the store-front setup of make-unders and, you know, the DJ cranking music. It was by far the busiest, craziest of the three stops. As women stopped one by one to ask about what was going on, Roy (a color lead from Sephora Village Arcade, at right) penciled them into his long, long, long list. Anyway, this trip has really been incredible—Austin, San Antonio, and Houston—and I have plenty more to post when I get back to The Big Apple. For now, I'm off to catch my flight! Stay tuned, and as one store castmember just said, "Go on with your B.E. self." ;) —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Takes Texas: Leslie Stops By!

Leslie's here signing autographs and talking B.E. with dozens of Houston fanatics—Houstonians?—waiting to meet her. When did she chose Texas? It just seemed like a natural choice, as the last tour was across the Midwest this past spring, she said. "I get a lot of letters from women in Texas. We have a lot of great, loyal fans here." Leslie also said this is just the beginning of tours like this for B.E.; she loves the energy, and wants many more to follow! —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: The Smoky V Brush

Brush tip: Using the eyeshadow brush from the Smoky V Eye Kit, you can blend eyeshadow more easily, and quickly, than before. The V-shaped brush, the "Double-Ended Smoky V Brush", is cut into the shape of a V to apply shadow in two spots at once, and has a brush on the other end for blending. "Normally, you need a crease brush, and blending brush, and so on," Mo, a skincare lead at Sephora Woodlands, said. "But with this, you just use the double edge on the lid, and then turn it to blend the powder. It saves a lot of time." —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Blush Technique

Christina, one of B.E.'s regional artists, says it's important to use the right brushes and brush technique when you're applying blush. "You want to make sure you don't create a circle or stripe," she said. "When you smile, apply it to the highest point of your cheek, right on the apple. And lightly dust up to cheekbone, all the way to the ear area." For a brush, she said the Angled Blush Brush works best, because the angle of the brush fits on the contour of the face. And as a last step—using the same brush—dust on All-Over Face Color to highlight the cheeks even more. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Picking The Perfect Shade

With 12 shades of powder foundation, your perfect shade of bareMinerals is out there, it's just a matter of knowing how to pick it. The Bare Escentuals' Get Started Kit comes with two different shades of bareMinerals SPF15 Foundation for this very reason, so you can pick the color that best suits your skin type, and even blend two together for a better match. (To decide which kit to buy in the first place, use the shade finder on sephora.com—a visual gradient of all of the shades for different skin colors.) But even further, the way to decode all that talk about warm and cool undertones? Use a secret method from Erica DeHoyos, B.E.'s Specialty Store Trainer in Houson Metro/Louisiana: Press the veins on the inside of your wrist. If the spot you pressed stays blue, you have cool undertones; if it turns greenish, you have warm undertones. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Sunset Trick

Bare Escentuals' Anne Stewart—here with Mirian, a mother of two who is new to B.E.—has a trick for not overdoing the sultry look. "Imagine that you're making a sunset on the eye," she said, blending the lavender-grey Pacific Heights shadow on the lid. "Keep it darker at the lashline, but fade it out as you blend up to the crease of the eye." —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Houston Galleria!

Blogging live from Sephora Houston Galleria—the third stop on the Bare Escentuals Try, Believe, Love Texas Tour! This stop is a different animal all together; it's a store that has huge traffic, Sephora castmember Ayisha said, and draws a more international, eclectic crowd because its downtown and so close to airports, etc etc. The B.E. and Sephora artists are at it again —enthusiastically swirling, tapping, and buffing away—but this time in front of the store because they needed more room. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Houston-Bound

That's a wrap for Sephora La Cantera. Throughout the entire event today, not one client (of 100+) missed their make-under appointment—a fact that I'm told is especially rare, yet Store Director Stella Martinez looks unfazed when I bring it up. ("Well really, why would you miss something like this?" she says. Good point.) Now, next stop: Houston! Everyone's packing up as we speak—that's Rauvan and Erica, both of B.E., at right—so check in tomorrow for more live blogging from stop #3! —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Leslie Blodgett

Will the real Ms. Blodgett please stand up, please stand up ... Here's the real Ms. Blodgett at right, hamming it up with her favorite cut-out. "I want to take this home with me!" she laughed. On a more serious note, Leslie described how important this tour is to her personally, and to Bare Escentuals as a brand, as a way to truly stay connected to her clients: "These trips are really reminders for us," she said. "Reminders about what our product means to women, and the effect it's had on their lives. It gets new ideas flowing for us too, and keeps us really inspired in that way." —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Nice Rock Shadow

Here's Toni, San Antonio mother of three and Bare Escentuals first-timer, having her eye makeup done with the Nice Rock shadow from the Classic Rock kit. "To be honest, I'm pretty shocked by how great this product is," she said. "I saw the commercials on TV, but was still really skeptical, so I wanted to come [to Sephora] to try it out. I'm just blown away at how natural and beautiful it looks." The Nice Rock Eyeshadow is an entirely new eye shadow—a deep, sparkly charcoal—that's exclusive to the Classic Rock kit. But, if like Toni, you're not really feeling the sparkle? Then Melissa (who's doing Toni's make-under) has a great tip: Keep blending it; the more you blend, the more the sparkle fades, all the while keeping the rich color. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Homemade Jewelry

Look closely at this shot—there's some designer Bare Escentuals jewelry happening. Jana, a Sephora La Cantera castmember, actually made B.E. earrings out of two eye shadow caps in honor of Leslie Blodgett's stop-by. To Jana's serious delight, Leslie signed one "love" and the other "Leslie" ... and then posed for this almost-three-person photo. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Bus Tour: Lining Up For Leslie Blodgett

Leslie Blodgett has entered the building—evidenced by shreaks of excitement and lines of camera-toting moms, daughters and the like. The most fascinating thing to me is that Leslie really is as humble and friendly as people say. (Being CEO of the #1 mineral makeup in the world could make someone a diva.) ;) As she signed autographs for women of every age, she again listened to stories about women first finding bareMinerals, different products they love, their excitement at just meeting her, etc. But the best: Leslie said a woman at one of their boutique stops asked her to sign two photos for "her babies"—which turned out to mean her teeny-tiny puppies. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

B.E. Texas: Priming, Priming, Priming

Sephora castmember Roselyn says there's an often-overlooked point when it comes to applying bareMinerals: Priming your skin first. By prepping the skin with bareVitamins Prime Time, you counteract the fine lines, enlarged pores, and dry patches that make foundation look rough and blotchy; which means you certainly won't achieve the full potential of bareMinerals radiance. So, after you cleanse your skin in the morning, take 30 seconds to smooth on a pea-sized amount of primer before foundation. Tiny step, huge difference.—Jessica Anderson, Sephora

B.E. Texas: Gang's All Here

There's already been 100% turnout of the 120-something RSVP's! "That's really unheard of for an event," Shara Christiansen, Sephora District Manager of Houston/Austin/San Antonio, said. "There's so much excitement about Bare Escentuals, and a lot of really true, die-hard fanatics out there, so it's great to get that sort of hype in here." —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

B.E. Texas: Sephora La Cantera!

Hello from San Antonio, Texas—home of Sephora La Cantera, our second stop on the Bare Escentuals Try, Believe, Love Texas Tour! I have to say, this is handsdown, no question, the coolest Sephora I have ever seen; it's part of a luxe, very Western-looking outdoor mall, as you can see from the cactus-adorned photo, with big sun canapies, limestone walkways, and ceiling fans galore outside. (95 degrees today!) And speaking of limestone, a little San Antonio trivia for you: The entire city is built on the sedimentary rock, which was blasted out of a rock quarry, a word that translates to "la cantera" in Spanish. It all makes sense now, right? So what better way to celebrate B.E.'s new Classic Rock kit, made with 100% pure crushed diamond powder, than in Sephora La Cantera. So fitting. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

B.E. Texas: On The Road Again

After a long, exciting day, things are winding down at Sephora Barton Creek. We're heading to San Antonio tonight—The Lone Star State's second largest city!—so stay tuned for live blogging from Stephora La Cantera tomorrow. Today was a huge success, with an impressive turnout, but thisTry, Believe, Love-ness is just getting started. For now, goodnight, Austin! —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

B.E. Texas: Eye Shadow Technique

BE artist Christina has a clever trick for applying eye shadow. She uses the tip of the Eye Tapered Shadow Brush to softly blend the shadow into the creases of the eyes, and then presses the flat edge against it to pack it in. It's loose powder, she says, so you don’t want "little flurries" falling in or below your eyes. –Jessica Anderson, Sephora

B.E. Texas: Leslie Blodgett Arrives!

Leslie just walked in—to an incredible, incredible outpouring of cheers, even tears—and is now circling the store greeting her guests. "I've been watching Leslie on TV forever, and I have all of her seasonal kits,” said Susan Sutton (right), a self-described “Bare Escentuals nut” who just moved to Austin to start a new job at Dell. “So to meet her? And a day before my birthday?! This is just such a special day for me.” What's amazing is how visably passionate Leslie is about Bare Escentuals; no feigning here. As she talks to women about pre-B.E. stories—stories about skin frustrations and irritations that BareMinerals cured—she looks geniunely thrilled and empathetic. There's a line of people to see her, so we'll steal her for B.E. tips at the smaller La Cantera stop tomorrow! —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

B.E. Texas: Pour The Bubbly!

Leslie Blodgett is arriving any minute now. The celebratory champagne has been poured, and that fancy DJ is now blasting the hip-hop, which is drawing even more curious passer-byers into the store. "Things are about to get poppin'!" Store Director Mary Stephenson says. :) —Jessica Anderson, Sephora

Bare Escentuals Takes Texas: Retired, Mineral Inspired

Suetta Murray, a retiree who lives just outside of Austin, says she started using Bare Escentuals as a "serious skeptic." "I saw the ads on TV and thought to myself, coooome on. There's no way all that can be true. No way," she said. But when her daughter forced her to try the mineral makeup almost two years ago, she quickly changed her tune. "I couldn't believe it. It truly works just how it says it will, and makes my skin glow in a way it never did before," she said. "There's nothing else like it." Suetta says she doesn't use a lot of makeup—"I'm retired. I deserve a break!"—but that her daily dose of Medium Beige foundation is her break. And today, her B.E. artist is wowing her with the Essential Brow Kit, using the Dark Blonde powder to fill in her brows, and then combing brow hairs "up and out" with the Angle Brow Brush. —Jessica Anderson, Sephora