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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

Karen

Is Boots Botanical Conditioning Clay Mask a Blessing in Disguise?

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Boots Botanics Conditioning Clay Mask Review

My combination skin’s been acting up lately (annoying little pimples on my chin, clogged pores on my cheeks, dry patches around my nose… the usual crapalicious bullsh*t 🙂 ), so last night I took it as a blogger’s blessing and decided to test oil-free Boots Botanics Conditioning Clay Mask ($9) for the first time.

Just shake (it sounds like canned soup!), slather and let dry for between 10-20 minutes before rinsing with warm water. The mineral-rich clay, which is harvested from the sea and combined with burdock root extract, contains a negative electrical charge that, according to Boots, draws the crud from pores without over-drying the skin.

Boots Botanics Conditioning Clay Mask Review
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A MAC Fabulous Felines Face of the Day: Cat Eyes with a Golden Twist

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mac fabulous felines leopard luxe fotd

Tabs has been bugging me to incorporate his MAC Leopard Luxe goodies into a look. It’s his favorite one of the Fabulous Felines color stories, and he’s been going on and on about its warm gold, brown, peach and black shades. Today he said of the colors, “Meow, mrow mrroww ft ft,” to which I think everyone agrees. 🙂

mac fabulous felines leopard luxe fotd
MAC Fabulous Felines Leopard Luxe products clockwise from left: Lipglass in Wildly Refined, Leopard Luxe eyeshadow quad, Utterly Game Mineralize Blush, Superslick Liquid Eye Liner in Pure Show, Superslick Eyeliner in On The Hunt

Just because a look utilizes neutrals doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Take the standard cat eye, for example. They’re often done with black liners or other dark neutrals, and today I tried mine with a twist — a shimmery golden liquid eyeliner along the lashline. I wanted to spice up the look with glitter without going full-on disco.

mac fabulous felines leopard luxe fotd
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The LORAC Evening Out Complexion Kit Isn’t Just for Evenings Out

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lorac evening out review

I didn’t have a cubic inch of extra room in my bag when I packed for that trip to Reno a couple weeks ago, so instead of bringing my usual brigade of face products (tinted moisturizer, stick foundation, liquid foundation… Um, have I ever mentioned that I tend to overpack?), I lightened my load with LORAC’s new Evening Out Complexion Kit ($38).

lorac evening out review The sleek gunmetal compact must have been made with on-the-go girl secret agents in mind because concealment is the name of this game.

The kit comes with a powder foundation, two cream concealers, a sponge applicator and a tiny Jane Bond-ian concealer brush. 🙂

Available in Light, Medium or Tan (the one I have), it covered all of my bases (and most of my skin imperfections) on the trip, working well no matter what outfits I wore, from ripped jeans to my favorite black cocktail dress.

When I wanted light, natural looking coverage during the day, I applied the powder foundation with a brush. Then at night I’d apply the finely-milled powder (has a medium opacity) with the included sponge. Because the powder layers well, it never looked like a heavy makeup mask.

lorac evening out review swatches
Swatches of Tan on NC35 skin from left: Powder Foundation, Light Concealer, Dark Concealer
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Kyra Sedgwick: Her Best Hair?

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It wasn’t billed as a rematch, but Sunday’s Emmy Awards pit two of TV’s most kick-@ss lady cops together for the FIFTH time in a row in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — LAW & Order: SVU’s Detective Olivia Benson, played by my girl Mariska Hargitay, and The Closer’s Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson, played by Kyra Sedgwick — and this time Kyra came out on top (Mariska won it in 2006).

It was good to see Kyra finally get the win. I’ve always liked her (and her hair!). Shoot, it’s about time homegirl got an Emmy to put on top of ye olde fireplace mantle. Fifth time’s the charm! 🙂

Which of Kyra's hairstyles do you like best?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Joining the Dark Side with the Bobbi Brown Black Velvet Collection

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Bobbi Brown Black Velvet swatches review

Darth Vader: Bobbi, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.
Bobbi Brown: Speak to me.
Darth Vader: If you only knew the power of the Dark Side…

Actually, Bobbi does know the power of the Dark Side. She joined it this fall, but not in an evil empire kind of way (I would totally buy a Vader lipstick! Darth Vadar).

Bobbi’s new 14-piece Black Velvet collection (pieces $20-24 each) features, as one might expect, a selection of sooty black-based makeup for eyes and lips, and since we’re talking about the Queen of Wearable Makeup here, there’s nothing too cray-cray in the mix. The colors have all been dialed down enough to make them suitable for sidewalks AND catwalks.

Yes, each of the new permanent collection products and limited edition shades is influenced by black, but Bobbi kept everything street- and workplace-friendly, adding plums, cherries and maple tones, as well as a few semi-transparent shades.

My lips like these dark lipsticks; they totally take me back to the gothy mid-’90s, when night shades and black lips were all the rage. Those were my college years, and I remember getting a lot of use out of a color that was similar to Bobbi’s Lip Color in Black Maple (can’t remember the name, but it was also a semi-matte blackish plum), which I’d wear with plaid shirts, ripped jeans, big hoop earrings and Converse high tops. 🙂

Here are some swatches and pics from the new collection… Let me know what you think!

Bobbi Brown Black Velvet swatches review
Clockwise from bottom: Sparkle Eyeshadow in Black Velvet ($24), Metallic Eyeshadow in Black Berry ($24) and Eyeshadow in Black Chocolate ($20)

Bobbi Brown Black Velvet swatches review
Clockwise from bottom: Sheer Lip Gloss in Black Chocolate ($20), Lip Color in Black Maple ($22) and Creamy Lip Color in Black Cherry ($22)

Bobbi Brown Black Velvet swatches review
Swatches from left on NC35 skin: Sparkle Eyeshadow in Black Velvet, Metallic Eyeshadow in Black Berry, Eyeshadow in Black Chocolate, Kohl Eyeliner in Black Chocolate, Kohl Eyeliner in Black, Creamy Lip Color in Black Cherry, Lip Color in Black Maple, Sheer Lip Gloss in Black Chocolate
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