Karen

MAC Riveting Has My Undivided Attention

February 12th, 2010 by Karen 29 Comments

Happy weekend eve, ladies. How was your Friday? Mine was tops until I picked up a wee cold. 🙁

Didn’t stop me from playing with makeup, though (few things ever do!). 🙂 I wanted to show you a few items from the upcoming MAC Riveting collection which arrives on counters next Thursday. I’ve got one or two more detailed lip and nail swatch posts planned; this one’s just a quick look.

Powder Blush in Full Fuchsia, $18.50

Lipglass in Rock Out (left) and True Babe (right), $14 each

Lipstick in Metal Maven (left) and Riveting (right), $14 each
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Should You Make an Appointment with Physicians Formula Organic Wear Eye Makeup Remover Pads?

February 12th, 2010 by Karen 16 Comments

Today I had one important question for my can of Physicians Formula Organic Wear Eye Makeup Remover Pads ($7): Is the doctor in the house?

Seriously, this can has *so many* good things going for it I don’t know where to start!

This might just be me, but I get an outdoorsy girl vibe from the packaging, like a gang of cute ponytailed camping chicks trekking through the woods wearing waterproof mascara and gloss. Fo’ reals, it emanates waves of potential drugstore beauty greatness. I mean $7? Dressed like that? Are you kidding me!?

So what stands out when I look at the can? How about all of the ingredients the pads DON’T contain. Physicians Formula left out the harsh chemicals and synthetic preservatives, colors and fragrances, and they did it without animal testing. Yup, they’re even cruelty-free (Tabs approved).

As for the pads…

Made from 100% natural, biodegradable fabric, they feel velvet soft against my eyelids, and the lavender scent soothes my savage beast.

All the right ingredients for a fantastic, blow-your-mind drugstore product, right?
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The Chanel Rouge Coco Hydrating Creme Lip Colors Are Movin’ On Up!

February 12th, 2010 by Karen 27 Comments

Hold on to your pearls and tweed jackets, ladies, because Chanel did us a solid. They bumped up the release date of their (soon to be our) new Rouge Coco lipsticks from March to February 25.

I was cruising the Nordstrom beauty department yesterday when a Chanel artist handed me a card with the new date. 🙂

The counter had a few samples of the new line’s 30 hydrating lipsticks, so, of course, I had to stick around and play…

Chanel Rogue Coco in Gabrielle
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NY Fashion Week: Gwen Stefani Talks Beauty Backstage at LAMB

February 12th, 2010 by Karen 3 Comments

Happy Friday, ladies! 🙂 Can I get a show of hands from the Gwen Stefani fans out there (Gwenny-Gwen-Gwen’s one of my style heroes)? My girls at Daily Makeover snagged an exclusive Fashion Week interview with her backstage at this week’s L.A.M.B show. She covers her involvement in the show, the secret to her hot red lips (can you believe she does her own makeup?) and the beauty look that drives her hubby wild. Fun!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

What inspired the beauty look for the L.A.M.B. show?

The collection is kind of based on a vintage, naughty, Hollywood starlet girl, a little bit of a modern, futuristic girl and a little bit of a soldier girl.

I found these Ellen von Unwerth pictures with black makeup and the dark lips [that I loved] so we’re going to do the hair very set, vintage and glamorous with a lot of bangs.

The thing that I’ve learned is that you have an inspiration, you have a picture, an idea and it just evolves into what it’s going to be.

You don’t consider when you come up with three ideas for a theme that you’re going to have a blizzard, a baby with an ear infection and the Chinese new year, but at the end of the day the creative process of having that pressure and that drama means you come up with things you normally wouldn’t. I can’t wait to see it all together.

Check out more of the recent beauty coverage on Daily Makeover

Two Ways to Win MAC’s Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi Lipsticks

February 11th, 2010 by Karen 575 Comments

UPDATE: Feb. 15, 2010. The giveaway is now closed. Congrats, Patty! 🙂

I’ve been a huge MAC fan for years, and they’ve always been easy to love — lots of jazzy color collections, quality products, helpful MUAs, great promotions, fantastic brushes and more. But one of my all-time favorite things about MAC has been Viva Glam. 🙂

Started way back in 1994 to support men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, the celebrity-sponsored lipsticks and lipglosses MAC’s released periodically under the Viva Glam name have raised millions, every dollar of which has gone to support the cause. Pretty cool, yah?

When I heard that MAC was releasing the latest installments this week, Viva Glam Gaga lipstick (as in Lady Gaga, holla!) and Viva Glam Cyndi (as in Lauper), I snapped both up with a quickness!

Which reminds me, are you ready for a giveaway?

The prize

One lucky lady will win BOTH Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam Cyndi (a $28 value) lipsticks.

MAC Viva Glam Gaga ($14): a light blue-ish pink
MAC Viva Glam Cyndi ($14): a light reddish coral

How to enter…

2ways2enter Entering is easy. There are two different ways, and you can do both of them for two chances to win.

First, you can enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, a comment about anything at all.

When I was eight, I desperately wanted to dye my hair red and then shave half of it off like Cyndi Lauper. Yeah… my parents were NOT ON BOARD!

Second, enter by following me on Twitter and retweeting (RT) the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to win MAC’s Viva Glam Gaga & Viva Glam Cyndi Lipsticks (a $28 Value) http://bit.ly/dhLD1h

Recap…

Enter by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post, and don’t forget to use a valid email address so I can reach you if you win.
Follow me on Twitter and retweet the following message:

RT @karenmbb: RT to win MAC’s Viva Glam Gaga & Viva Glam Cyndi Lipsticks (a $28 Value) http://bit.ly/dhLD1h

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59 p.m. PST on Sunday, February 14.

Suwertehin ka sana!!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

UPDATE: Feb. 15, 2010. The giveaway is now closed. Congrats, Patty! 🙂

A Bottle Full of Irony

February 11th, 2010 by Karen 17 Comments

Marc Jacobs Biscotti Smells Like…

February 11th, 2010 by Karen 19 Comments

Lemons. For serious! There’s also a hint of mint tea thrown into the top notes. Eventually it dries down to a white musk/violet/vanilla combo.

Apple smelled like a green apple Jolly Rancher, and Pomegranate like Pom juice.

A Lip Look with Bobbi Brown Cabana Corals

February 11th, 2010 by Karen 72 Comments

Come on, ride the [coral] train… hey, ride it (WOO, WOO)! Spring 2010 has been an overnight trip on the Coral Express, ladies. Headed where? The Land of Coral, of course.

I guess what I’m trying to say is we’ve been seeing A LOT of coral lately. 🙂

Today the lippies in the Bobbi Brown Cabana Corals collection fueled the fire.

Because I’m still working my way through a neutral lip phase, I wanted something that wasn’t too va-va-va voom, so I layered Coral Reef Metallic Lip Color (a shimmery pinkish coral, $22) beneath Coral Sand Shimmer Lip Gloss (a golden peach, $20) and really like how it turned out.

Coral Reef (left) and Coral Sand (right)

I also tried them on their own…
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