Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Today I took the brand spankin’ new Dior Soft Pink Design All-In-One Artistry Palette ($58) from the Dior Montaigne spring 2011 collection out for a spin using the little tutorial that comes with the palette as a guide…
I love it when products come with these things (sending positive reinforcement to all the companies out there) because they make looks as easy as 1-2-3.
Base
Colour
Shadow
Shine
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With just a couple of days remaining until the big premiere, the new MAC Mickey Contractor Collection (opens Jan. 6 in North America; internationally shortly after that) has a lot of us singing Hooray for Bollywood.
Reader Megan had a question about a product that promises to be one of the stars of the show…
“Do you think Siahi Fluidline is similar to Delft Paint Pot?
 Thanks!”
— Megan
Hi Megan,
Oh, Delft is one of my all-time favorite MAC Paint Pots! I picked it up a few years ago when it was part of the permanent collection, but it seems to have gone MIA since then (at least online).
It’s a shimmery teal with a hint of gold, and it, like the rest of the Paint Pots, feels softer and slightly fluffier than the Fluidlines do to me.
I usually wear the Paint Pots as cream shadows and/or eyeshadow bases, although they’ll double as liners, too.
About Delft, it’s like Siahi’s lighter, greener cousin; however, they both have very different shimmers. Siahi’s looks rather teal to me, while Delft’s is more of a straight up gold.
While I was rutting around in my stash for Delft, I also noticed that teal blue Korres Eyeliner Pencil in Blue Petrol looks a little like Siahi as well, except that it’s darker, with a matte finish.
MAC Paintpot in Delft (left) and MAC Fluidline in Siahi (right)
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Expect a downpour at Dior this spring when the new Montaigne Collection comes to town, but you won’t need your umbrella for this storm. That’s because it’ll be pouring pearls when the 13-piece release for eyes, lips, cheeks and drips on Dior counters, in Dior stores and at Sephora in the next few weeks.
Named after the Paris address where the first Dior boutique opened back in 1946, the palette of pearly grays and baby pinks suggests spring soirees in the City of Lights, and to these soirees you’re wearing pearls. It’s a soft, sophisticated, natural look, and passersby won’t be able to miss your subtly shimmering glow.
To my eye, the Soft Pink Design Quint ($58), one of two for eyes in the release, characterizes the collection’s vibe with its nuanced pinks and grays. It comes with (almost) everything a girl would need to live the eye portion of the look — an eyeshadow base, a liner, two shimmer shadows and one glitter shadow. The only thing missing: mascara.
Below are pics and swatches showing the colors on NC35 and NW20 skin. Take a look, and let me know what ya think. 🙂
Hint: it’s a beauty product!
To quote (and then paraphrase) the great Sade, “No need to ask, he’s [she’s] a smooth operator.” Except her charms aren’t working on me. 🙁
The new Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Eye Base ($22) may be a touch too light for this brown girl, but lighter lasses, listen up. This pretty pink primer just might shine for you.
The warm yellow undertones in my skin don’t agree with Smooth Operator (it turns gray on me), but that shouldn’t happen if you like the way you look in shades of cool-toned pink.
Released as a QVC (yep, that QVC) exclusive last December, Smooth Operator Eye Base looks to me like a hybrid of two other products, Benefit Eye Bright Pencils and Urban Decay Primer Potion. It combines the light pink color of Eye Bright with UDPP’s fluffy, smooth texture.
Tarte refers to it as a brightening eyeshadow base designed to prevent shadows from smudging and creasing, and increase how long they last on the skin.
As you can from the name, its claim to fame is the Amazonian clay it contains, which Tarte claims has “intuitive” properties. They say it’s able to adjust to the wearer’s skin. If need be, it’ll hydrate dry spots into nonexistence, or absorb oily patches to eliminate shine.
Now that’s some smart clay. 🙂
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Grab a life vest, some floaties and your favorite blue and white striped shirt, seafarers, ’cause it’s time for an adventure on the high seas this spring with the China Glaze Anchors Away Collection.
The 12 limited-edition colors, a mix of nautical-inspired pastels and rainbow brights in shimmer and matte finishes, docks at beauty supply stores and salons soon.
The China Glaze Anchors Away Collection includes…
I’ll have swatches up in just a few, but for now, see anything you like?
A little sleepy (today was the first time I’ve had to wake up before 8 in ages) but excited about the day ahead. I’m feeling extra organized and positive!
While watching The Fighter, a movie about boxing, last weekend, it hit me (haha) that knowing how to throw a punch would probably be a good life skill to have. I don’t plan on joining a fight club or getting into a bar brawl or anything; I just want to have enough muscle memory to clock someone should I ever need to throw down.
My weird sense of humor. Sometimes I can be reserved when I first meet people, so when it comes out of the woodwork I think it catches them off guard.
Bangs — it’s amazing how just a few snips can change your look. I haven’t been this enamored with them since my hair bear days in the late ’80s/early ’90s.
I’m majorly infatuated with the MAC 239 at the moment. The dense brush head applies just the right amount of color, and the size is big enough to cover a decent amount of area, yet small enough to do detail work.
I pluck below and between the brows with a Tweezerman to give them an arched shape, trim the tops with scissors and then fill in sparse areas with Benefit Instant Brow.
Yes! During my junior year in college I wanted to get more physically fit, so I set a goal to run the San Francisco Bay to Breakers (a 7.46 mile race that winds through the city) in May. I started running short distances around my house, gradually increasing them over time. When May rolled around I ran the race just fine — well, the flat parts at least. The hills just about killed me.
That I can make all the plans I want, but part of the equation seems to always involve a crapshoot — being at the right place at the right time, knowing somebody who happens to know somebody else, that kind of thing. Sometimes it works in my favor, and sometimes it doesn’t.
It’s really cold out, so a bowl of hot, comforting corn chowder sounds good right now.
Cross off everything on my daily to-do list, cook a couple of healthy dinners and find some new running music.
Another year, another Monday poll, babe. You’re probably back at the grind, getting ready to tackle your regularly scheduled programming (LOL!), but if you’ve got a second, will you please pop in? I’d love to hear from you so we can start the new year together. 🙂
1. Mood:
2. One thing you’d like to learn in “the 2011”?
3. One thing you love about yourself?
4. What’s your current beauty obsession?
5. Your favorite eyeshadow brush and why?
6. What’s your eyebrow maintenance routine?
7. Have you ever actually stuck to a New Year’s resolution?
8. What’s surprised you most about your life so far?
9. What’s for lunch today?
10. Weekly goals:
Let’s set the tone for 2011 by having a fabulous week, ‘kay? I’m sending lots of positive energy your way…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I had a shockingly great hair week, which is weird considering all the rain we’ve been having. High humidity normally turns my ‘do into a frizzy mop, but lately all I’ve had to do is comb down my bangs after I shower and let my hair air dry. Badda-bing, badda-bang — bouncy waves and perfectly parted bangs. I think my cut has reached its sweet spot — that mythic stage at which it has grown out exactly enough in every imaginable way, and every strand falls precisely where it needs to be.
It’s perfect wash-and-wear hair. Practitioners of the tao de hair sometimes refer to this stage as “hair enlightenment”…and it only lasts for a few precious days each cut.
Okay, that was just crazy talk.
I must have gotten food poisoning from my pizza on New Year’s Eve because when we got home after dinner I went to the temple in my bathroom and repeatedly prayed to the porcelain gods. It was over pretty quickly that night, and I didn’t think much of it until the next day when I noticed some little red spots beneath my eyes (!). I think they’re broken blood vessels (from the strain of heaving). 🙁
I sure hope they’re only temporary… Thank goodness for concealer, is all I gotta say.
What were your best and worst beauty experiences of the week? Please share yours in the comments.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. I hope you’re enjoying the last few hours of the official holiday season. Sleep well, and I’ll see you first thing tomorrow morning.
