Karen

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Harsh: Every Girl Needs Some Bling

September 18th, 2009 by Karen 36 Comments

(If you’re reading this in the feed, there’s a video embedded in this post.)

Happy Friday, Sparkle Motions!

Ya know, sometimes it’s the little things that matter most…

This week was a rough one for me (lots of stress eating, yikes!), and I needed a way to unwind. I decided to reward myself with an at-home mani using one of fall’s hottest nail polish colors, gray.

I thought about busting out one my faves from Barielle, Essie or Zoya but felt like a little more bling.

I knew I wanted something in the gray/silver family, and I found my match in Illamasqua’s Nail Varnish in Harsh ($14).

One of the 22 nail colors in Illamasqua’s permanent polish line, it shines on its own or layered on top of other polishes. Although, technically, it isn’t a fall release, I think it fits really well both with the season and my current mood. 🙂

Friday night?

I don’t have a lot going on tonight other than maybe a movie and the start of my packing.

What are you up to? Tell me about your makeup today.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

7 Reasons to Love NARS

September 18th, 2009 by Karen 30 Comments

NARS Modern Love Palette Rocks the Cradle of Eyeshadow Love
With a mix of shimmery neutrals; sexy, sparkling plum and a sprinkling of basic brown and black all together in the same place, this well-coordinated eye palette still packs some serious potential.

NARS Multiple Duo in Orgasm/South Beach: With a Name Like That, It Has To Be Good!
This Multiple Duo is one of five and comes with shimmery, peachy pink Orgasm and South Beach, its shimmery coral partner in crime. At $45, it’s a little on the expensive side, but considering how lovely the colors are, and that both shades purchased individually would set you back $74, it’s not a bad deal at all.

NARS Shrinagar Lipstick: Berry Sexy!
Shrinagar was the only lipstick color in Nars’ last spring release, but never mind when it arrived. It looks great any time of year! It’s a sheer wash of deep, glossy raspberry with microscopic flecks of silver — complex, even flashing purple at certain angles. Picture hot librarians in nerdy chic glasses! 🙂

NARS Says Aloha with the Hula Hula Eyeshadow Duo
This shimmery eyeshadow duo feels like poetry on my eyes… One of two eyeshadow duos from the NARS spring 2009 collection, Hula Hula comes with two cool-toned eyeshadows, the first in shimmery strawberry pink and the other in gold. For all my glitter girls, both colors in the duo have bangin’ flakes of glitter — HUGE chunks like the glitter in NARS’ Super Orgasm Blush, BAM!

NARS Mounia Blush: More Wearable Than It Looks
The first time I swatched this shimmery reddish brown coral with golden pearl, I was convinced it would cause crazy clown cheeks! It looked almost like bright orange paint in the pan and on the back of my hand. To my surprise, the shade doesn’t look anywhere near as bright on my cheeks. It delivers a bright yet natural, just-pinched flush — not at all what I expected!

Live Nude Gloss! NARS Supervixen Lipgloss
Movie moment! If I were starring in a blockbuster, this is how I’d want my lips to look in my closeups, with hair perfectly tousled, of course, and C. Bale feeding me croissants and coffee in bed (assuming he wasn’t being mean to his mum, oh, gawd).

NARS Mediteranee Face of the Day: Orange, Anyone?
Here’s a bright look I really like (despite my confused, far-off stare in the picture at the bottom) using the orange and gold shades from the NARS Mediteranee eyeshadow duo and products from MAC Cosmetics, Shu Uemura, Laura Mercier and Chanel.

TGIF, ladies! Looks like we made it through another workweek. I hope yours wasn’t bad, but if it was, I hope it gets better. 🙂

This morning I reminisced about some of my favorite NARS products of the past few months. Actually, since NARS is so good about maintaining the availability of their older products, one or two of these are from last year, but all are still available through their website.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Tripping Over MAC Trip

September 18th, 2009 by Karen 8 Comments

This MAC Trip Cool Eyes Palette ($40) is kinda old (I got it last May), but I lurrrrve it.

I Love the Smell of Nail Polish in the Morning

September 18th, 2009 by Karen 14 Comments

Nobody can mangle a quote quite like Jason Stackhouse, legend and True Blood sage.

(Illamasqua Varnish in Harsh, $14.)

From Runway to Realway: Red Hot Lips and Shimmery Teal Eyes

September 17th, 2009 by Karen 54 Comments

agent-provocateur-show

New York Fashion Week is just about over, but I’m not ready to let go quite yet.

Today I had some time during my lunch break to play, so I tried to re-create the makeup from last week’s Agent Provocateur runway show.

Inspired by a 70s fetish club, this sultry look features red lips and teal eyes. MEOW!

fashion-week-fotd-final

I’d never think to pair these colors together, but this look turned out surprisingly wearable. I might actually rock this someplace other than my living room, ha!

If ya want a tutorial, gimme a holler in the comments. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Itching to try a few New York Fashion Week makeup looks on yourself? Check out Daily Makeover’s Fashion Week Looks Facebook contest, and enter to win a Zeno Mini (an $89 value).

Streamline Your Makeup Bag with NARS Powder Foundation

September 17th, 2009 by Karen 25 Comments

nars powder foundation review

The holidays coming! The holidays are coming!

I can hardly believe it’s mid-September already, and that means the holiday travel season isn’t far away.

One of my biggest travel challenges is packing light. I think I’m naturally predisposed to overpack, as if I biologically need 10 different shades of pink lipgloss; maybe it’s a primitive urge to gather?

But after a traumatic airport incident a few years back (a TSA agent almost confiscated a baggie filled with Chanel and MAC, NOOOO!), I’ve gotten better at streamlining what goes into my makeup bag.

Nowadays, I’m all about bringing products that multitask. When space is limited, the more steps and products I can eliminate, the better.

NARS Powder Foundation ($45), my latest foundation love, totally fits the multitasking bill.

Portable and flexible, with a natural finish

Forget hauling a separate liquid foundation, tinted moisturizer and powder. Housed in a sleek, portable case, this flexible pressed powder foundation does it all, evening out tone and wicking away shine from morning ’till night. It does it, too, without looking too thick or too much like a mask. Added bonus: It contains SPF 12.

I apply it in layers until I reach a level of opacity I’m happy with. If I know I’ll just be chillin’ with the fam, I’ll go with one to two layers applied with a kabuki brush, one like the MAC 182 Buffer ($45). It delivers natural, light-to-medium coverage. For a more opaque look, I’ll smooth it on with the included sponge.

mac cosmetics ny fashion week spring 2010 vena cava lip 5
Wearing two layers of NARS Powder Foundation applied with a Kabuki brush

Whatever the coverage, NARS Foundation Powder always feels lightweight on my skin. It’s so comfy that I sometimes forget I’m wearing it at all!

Tips on choosing a foundation color

With 18 shades to choose from, there should be something for almost everyone. I use Sahara, which the NARS website lists for “medium red-based complexions.”

When choosing a foundation color, I usually enlist the help of a sales associate or makeup artist — someone to serve as a second opinion. If you’re on your own, though, here are two tips to try:
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Charlize Theron: Her Best Hair?

September 17th, 2009 by Karen 7 Comments

charlize-theron-hair-poll-1

Film critic Roger Ebert described her performance in 2003’s Monster like this: It was “one of the greatest performances in the history of the cinema,” and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agreed, awarding Charlize Theron (born August 7, 1975) with that year’s award for Best Actress.

After a difficult childhood, she entered acting via the modeling route, first moving on a one-year contract to Milan, Italy at age 16 from her family’s farm near Johannesburg, South Africa. From there it was to New York, where she also studied ballet, and then to Los Angeles on a one-way ticket.

I guess the one-way part was a good idea. 🙂

As for her look? Classic, timeless, feminine — and all around gorgeous.

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Cheap Thrills with C Me Shine Lip Gloss from Yes To Carrots

September 16th, 2009 by Karen 41 Comments

yes to carrots c me shine lip gloss review

CHEAP THRILL ALERT!

Hey, now, dirty birdies. Get that mind out of the gutter. I’m not talking ’bout that kind of nasty…

Or this kind for that matter…

spencer-pratty-says-haaaay-girl-1-2

I’m talking about the affordably awesome Yes to Carrots C Me Shine Lip Glosses ($6.50 each and available in six shades).

If it weren’t for their faint mint flavor and fragrance (which dissipates quickly), they’d almost be knockoffs of the MAC Lipgelles, which cost twice as much ($14). They have a similar smooth and shiny, non-stick texture and also broadcast seriously intense color.

And with six shades to choose from — Playful Nude, Rose Bliss, Flirty Pink, Carrot Kiss, Red Hot and Cocoa Loco — there’s a decent degree of variety within the line.

I’ve tried three of the colors:

yes to carrots c me shine lip gloss review red hot
Red Hot