Karen

Feeling Soft Blue and Purple: My Dior Lace Thursday Face of the Day

January 21st, 2010 by Karen 49 Comments

Well, I decided to take the Dior Lace Dentelle Palette in Pearl Glow for a little spin tonight.

Without a particular look in mind before starting, I just grabbed the pan of shimmery blue, purple, pink, taupe and silver and let my fingers make up my mind for me. 🙂

Dentelle AFTER it’s been swatched

By the time I was finished, I’d used a mix of products from Dior, Urban Decay and MAC, ending up with a soft, sorta watercolor effect with a faint wash of blue and purple on my eyes, a light pinkish brown matte on my cheeks and a creamy pinkish/plum lip.

On my eyes, I used the Dior Dentelle Palette in Pearl Glow, Dior 2-Colour Eyeshadow in Nude Look, Dior Extase Mascara and the Urban Decay 24-7 Glide On Eye Pencils in Zero and Ransom.

To tone down my cheeks (because I didn’t want them to overpower my eyes), I used MAC’s Personal Style, a sheer powder blush from the recent All Ages, All Races, All Sexes collection.
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New in Beauty, Jan. 21: Paul and Joe Does Alice in Wonderland, but NARS Loves to Thrill!

January 21st, 2010 by Karen 26 Comments

Wowza! Are you ready for this jelly? And by jelly I’m referring to new beauty releases from Paul and Joe, NARS, Smashbox and more.

Sit back, kick off your shoes (if you’re at the office, maybe sneak it under your desk), and let your mind wander with today’s New in Beauty roundup. Don’t be surprised if you find a little drool on your keyboard when you’re done. 😉

I’m lurvin’ the packaging for Paul & Joe’s Alice in Wonderland collection (HELLA CUTE!).

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NARS Kuala Lumpur

January 21st, 2010 by Karen 32 Comments

NARS Kuala Lumpur Eyeshadow Duo ($32) from the Spring 2010 collection. Yay or nay?

Barielle Wildflowers, Part Two

January 21st, 2010 by Karen 3 Comments

The second half of the Barielle Wildflower collection for spring!

From left to right: Blossom, Snap Dragon, Blossom ($8 each)

Swatch Me I’m Falling for Barielle’s New Wildflower Nail Polishes

January 21st, 2010 by Karen 32 Comments

Mornin’, ladies. 🙂 I’ve been up since four (WHEE!) and wasn’t able to fall back to sleep, so instead of dreaming about Ryan Reynolds I spent the wee hours this morning listening to Debbie Gibson (LOL!) and painting my nails.

I used Barielle’s new Wildflower collection for spring ($8 each).

From left to right: Blossom, Snap Dragon and Daring Dahlia

Barielle says their inspiration for the six new shades came from two things: 1) spring flowers and 2) the many women close to the brand who are still battling against, or have lost their fight with, ovarian cancer.

Three of the colors — A Bouquet for Ava, June Bug and Myrza’s Meadow — are actually named after three of these special ladies, and 100% of the proceeds from sales of the shades through ocrf.org will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (what an awesome idea). 🙂

From left to right: A Bouquet for Ava, June Bug and Myrza’s Meadow

Of course, like Barielle’s other polishes, the six Wildflower shades are free of formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl-phthalate — potentially harmful compounds commonly found in lesser-known, off-market nail polish brands.
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Philosophy Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer Guards Against the Signs of Aging

January 21st, 2010 by Karen 6 Comments

Ladies, pat yourselves on the back for making it over the Wednesday hump! I can finally taste freedom (aka the weekend), and oh, how sweet it is! 🙂 Before our regularly scheduled MBB programming begins, here’s a sponsored post featuring a newcomer to Philosophy’s skin care line. – Karen

Philosophy Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer is a new skin care savior that boasts the highest level of antioxidants of any Philosophy moisturizer. The satiny formula leaves skin feeling soft, while it helps strengthen skin’s natural rejuvenation potential to guard against signs of aging. All this while it helps protect against free radical attack.

Want to try it? Philosophy is providing a free deluxe sample of the new Eye Hope advanced Anti-Aging Eye Cream (2 ml) with any purchase of the Philosophy Miracle Worker Miraculous Anti-Aging Moisturizer. The offer will be valid through January 31. Use code ageless to take advantage.

Barielle Wildflower Collection, Part One

January 20th, 2010 by Karen 6 Comments

Barielle Wildflower

Three of the six shades from Barielle’s spring 2010 collection. From left to right: A Bouquet for Eva, Myrza’s Meadow and June Bug ($8 each). All of the proceeds (that’s 100 percent!) from these shades will be donated to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund if you purchase them from ocrf.org. Shipping is free, too! 🙂

Urban Decay’s Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows Reads Just Like a Fairy Tale

January 20th, 2010 by Karen 47 Comments

Unless you’ve been living in a rabbit hole with your Cheshire Cat , you may have heard the surrounding Urban Decay’s new Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows ($52), a limited-edition palette created for Disney to coincide with the upcoming Tim Burton version of the film.

Urban Decay Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows, $52

Fifty-two bones gets ya 16 shimmery shadows, two eyeliners and a mini-Urban Decay Primer Potion in a fantastical pop-up box that shows Alice walking through a field of giant ‘shrooms.

Alice fans have been snatching it up (it’s already sold out on UrbanDecay.com)! But never fear. 🙂 You can sign up to be notified as soon as the next round of palettes goes on sale, or wait and find it at Sephora, Ulta and Macy’s beginning early next month.

Now, there’s been some beauty chatter about how similar this palette is to previous ones from Urban Decay, and whether or not they re-named and re-packaged some existing colors. I did take a quick look at Book of Shadows Volume II (from last fall) and did notice some overlapping shades.

A few of the neutrals in Vol. II, like Half Baked, Twice Baked, Midnight Cowboy Rides Again and YDK, do look similar to Alice’s Muchness, Mushroom, Midnight Tea Party and Mad Hatter. And among the brights, Vol. II’s Ecstasy (the shimmery purple) sure reminds me of Underland, while Jinx (the shimmery blue) kinda looks like Alice.

UPDATE, 1/21/2010: Readers Mel, HC and Jen commented to say that all of the new shades are, in fact, repromotes of existing colors from Urban Decay’s previous collections and permanent line, and the company announced some of the equivalent shades on Twitter: “Shades in the upcoming Alice in Wonderland Palette: Underland (Flash), Chessur (Chopper), Muchness (X), Absolem (Homegrown), Jabberwock (Oil Slick), Drink Me, Eat Me (Sin), Alice (Painkiller), Mad Hatter (Twice Baked), Midnight Tea Party (Midnight Cowboy Rides Again), Vorpal (S&M), Queen (Last Call) and White Rabbit (Polyester Bride)” (click here for a full list)

If you already own a fully stacked stash of Urban Decay shadows, it’s just something to consider. Of course, if you’re a rabid Alice fan or hard-core UD aficionado, a few overlapping colors may not matter to you at all, and if they didn’t, I’d completely understand. 🙂

I should say that the colors, no matter what, are up to typical standards for UD — vibrant, with shimmer that’s out of this world! I like what I’ve seen so far and appreciate the number of neutral shades, especially considering they’re from Urban Decay.

Take a look around, and let me know what you think!

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