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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

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, May 25

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  1. Mood:

    2. Torn. Sad because we fly home to Cali today; happy because I can’t wait to see Tabs.

  2. Hobbies other than makeup?

    3. Surfing, reading, gardening and knitting.

  3. Hair:

    4. Side-swept bangs and a low ponytail.

  4. What’s your favorite snack?

    5. Any kind of fruit salad that doesn’t have cantaloupe.

  5. Outfit:

    6. Skinny stretch jeans (oops, I ate too many malasadas on this trip) and a loose yellow and brown top with a hibiscus flower print.

  6. Eyes/lips/cheeks:

    7. I’m in travel mode today, wearing a basic look with Stila Lash Visor Mascara, Cargo Blu Ray High Definition Gloss in Belize on my lips and NARS the Multiple in Portofino on my cheeks.

  7. What’s your preferred method of hair removal?

    8. I wax my upper lip, pluck my brows and shave everywhere else. I’m a hairy beast, and hairy beasts gotta do what hairy beasts gotta do, ya know?

  8. What are your plans this summer?

    9. El Hub and I are hoping to move into a new place, assuming I don’t have a nervous breakdown while we look for it, LOL!

  9. Are you a night or a morning person?

    10. I love the night life. I got to boogie… on the disco ’round, oh yeah.

  10. Weekly goals:

    11. Get back into the groove of things with my freelance writing, go through all of the e-mail I missed, catch up on my blogging, pay some extra attention to Tabs, and do some push-ups because I feel weak!

Aloha, homies. El Hub and I are getting ready to leave for the airport and to head on home to California. It was great to see our family, but we have to get back to work.

Are you doing anything for Memorial Day? Let me know how you’re doing by copying the following list and pasting it with your answers to the Monday Poll in the comments. 🙂

Le List

Mood:
Hobbies?
Hair:
What’s your favorite snack?
Outfit:
Eyes/lips/cheeks:
What’s your preferred method of hair removal?
Summer plans?
Are you a night or a morning person?
Weekly goals:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays Without Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, May 24

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Tabs loves his Chanel

Tabs, like his cat mom, loves himself some Chanel. When I called Hotel Cattyfornia earlier today to see how he was doing, his “executive assistant” informed me that he’s been meowing non-stop about the new Chanel Celestial Lights Glossimers ($27 each).

Chanel infused each of the eight new shades with more glitter than Mariah Carey’s bathroom sink!

Tabs’ favorite shade is Venus. What’s yours?

chanel celestial lights levres scintillantes glossimers

chanel celestial lights levres scintillantes glossimer swatches final

Which Chanel Celestial Lights Glossimer is your favorite?

View Results

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Ever Heard of Le Métier de Beauté?

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Today Sabrina of The Beauty Look Book tells us about some of her favorite products from the exclusive Le Métier de Beauté cosmetics line.

Le Metier de Beaute

The stunning Le Métier de Beauté cosmetics line, exclusive to Bergdorf Goodman stores and a few select Neiman Marcus, features a wide range of luxurious beauty products with gorgeous packaging, unique colors, and lovely textures.

Here’s an exclusive look at some of the fun, modern, yet classic products Le Métier de Beauté has to offer.

Kaleidoscope Kits

Kaleidoscope Kits — “blending tradition and vision, creativity and innovation,” the kits are comprised of four colors presented in a unique stacking system with a flip-top mirror. They come in varieties available for lips, eyes, and face, each retailing for $95.

I have two — the Persephone Eye Kit and the Galatea Eye Kit.

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Persephone Eye Kit

The Persephone Eye Kit features four medium pigment eyeshadows with textures ranging from matte to satin to shimmer:

  • Rose Champagne: a soft shimmery pale rose-pink
  • Alexandrite: a sparkly eggplant amethyst
  • Canvas: a soft, satin, neutral fawn-cream
  • Sequoia: a matte, cool, dark chocolate brown

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Galatea Eye Kit

The Galatea Eye Kit features four unnamed shadows not available individually:

  • a soft, satin pale buttercream
  • a rich, shimmery golden brown
  • a matte puppy brown
  • a complex, shimmery nutmeg

Sheer Brilliance Lip Glosses

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Left to right: Marsala (gift with purchase), Cap d’Antibes, Cannes, Dubai, Ibiza, Captiva, Bondi Beach

The Sheer Brilliance Lip Glosses are my favorite products in the line — pure luxury in a tube, and I want them all!

They have a sparkly, glossy finish and a non-tacky texture that’s lightweight yet moisturizing. Colors are sheer but substantial enough to show on the lips. They retail for $32 each.

Lip Creme Lip Gloss

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Left to right: Sunset Boulevard (gift with purchase), Apricot Creme, Peche Creme, Papaye Creme, Sweet Creme, Fraise Creme

Hybrid lipstick/glosses, the Lip Creme Lip Glosses ($36) are super-pigmented, with a lightweight texture, intense color and a shiny finish. A little goes a long way, and they glide on the lips.

Color Core Moisture Stain Lipstick

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Top to bottom: Marrakech, San Tropez

The Color Core Moisture Stain Lipsticks ($32) have a long-lasting stain-like formula with a surprisingly creamy texture.

They do feel more like a stain than the typical lipstick, but once applied, they remain blendable while still staying put.

Where to buy

The Le Métier line is sold online and at just seven stores in the US, making it pretty hard to see in person.

NOTE:Bergdorf periodically holds what are called Beauty and Incircle events at which time they include nice gifts with purchase.

Unfortunately, swatches don’t always capture true colors. I’ve placed orders both online and in person at three of their physical locations. Once you’ve seen them in person, I highly recommend calling a counter to place your orders. The company’s product specialists are very knowledgeable and patient in describing things and making product recommendations. 🙂

In this guest post Sabrina of The Beauty Look Book tells us about some of her favorite products from the exclusive Le Métier de Beauté cosmetics line.

MAC Trip and MAC Travel Exclusives: Order by Phone from DFS Galleria in Hawaii

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The MAC counter at DFS Galleria in Waikiki

Fellow MACaholics, do you remember those drool-worthy MAC Trip palettes we talked about last month? They’ve been notoriously hard to find, right?

Some readers have tracked ’em down at airports and other places, but I never expected to find them a block from Waikiki Beach!

There’s a MAC counter inside the massive DFS Galleria (duty-free store) at 330 Royal Hawaiian Avenue, a Costco-sized makeup Mecca that caters primarily to international travelers from Japan.

But the store is wide open to everyone, and the MAC counter carries most of the current MAC Travel Exclusives, including several of the new spring and summer MAC Trip Palettes.

I saw these from the spring/summer Trip collection…

  • 5 Cool Eyes Palette, $40
  • 5 Warm Eyes Palette, $40
  • Cool Lips Palette, $23
  • Warm Lips Palette, $23

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MAC Travel Exclusives

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MAC Trip 5 Cool Eyes Palette
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10 Days of Giveaways: Comment to Win Philosophy Unconditional Love Spray Fragrance

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The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

makeup-and-beauty-blog-10-days-of-giveaways-beach

I was a late blooming water baby…

Large bodies of water terrified me until I hit my mid-20s, before which time I could barely handle the shallow end of a pool!

Things changed on my 26th birthday.

That’s when I treated myself to a week of surf lessons with a couple girlfriends. We found the place online, booked the class and drove down from the Bay Area to San Diego in Southern California. The lessons and accompanying basic swimming instruction helped me get over my fear of the water for good.

By no means am I a great swimmer, but now, when I’m in the water I feel light, free and at peace with everything; all my worries slip away, and I feel loved — pure, unconditional love.

Was that too corny?

Sure it was, but it leads us to the prize in today’s giveaway. 🙂

The prize

philosophy-unconditional-love

One lucky lady will win a bottle of Philosophy’s Unconditional Love Spray Fragrance (a $40 value).

In Philosophy’s own words…

“Wrap yourself in the warmth and comfort of unconditional love, a soulful, passionate, enduring fragrance. Unconditional love was created to make a woman feel loved and cherished and to remind her that to love and be loved unconditionally is the greatest love of all. Wear this heartfelt fragrance and feel surrounded by love and happiness throughout the day.”

I can totally get behind that!

The scent smells like a yummy blend of blackberries, vanilla and musk. It’s one of those food fragrances that tempts me to gnaw off my arm when I’m wearing it, but I’m told that would be unwise. 🙂

How to enter

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post. In it, complete the following sentence: I unconditionally love _______.

I unconditionally love my family and my cat.

I’ll pick the winner at random from among the people who enter by 11:59PM PST Sunday night (tonight).

Good luck, beauties!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The giveaway is now closed, and I’m contacting the winner by e-mail. Good luck!

Swim Fins and Snorkels: A Quick Hi from HI

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Hi, ladies. 🙂 Happy Saturday. This was me at Shark’s Cove yesterday. Snorkeling was a lot of fun. When I get back to California in a couple days, I swear I’m going to get a pair of fins and snorkels to use at the community swimming pool. I don’t care if it makes me look crazy.

Right now I’m sitting here in the living room of my in-law’s place listening to the oldie’s radio station (which they listen to constantly) and sipping some coffee.

Let me know what you’re up to this weekend. I hope you’re having a good one.

Trying to look graceful at Shark's Cove
It’s hard to look graceful walking in swim fins…

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

21 MORE Skin Care Tips

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21 MORE Skin Care Tips

Here at my in-law’s, *everybody* falls asleep by 9. I’m a night owl by nature, so I’ve been staying up after they’ve all gone to bed, watching MTV shows on my laptop in the dark.

Last night I watched an episode of True Life that featured young people dealing with severe acne. It chronicled their journeys through various acne treatments and the emotional trauma caused by bad acne.

The show got me thinking about how appearance can affect self-esteem.

I remember going through a terrible bout with acne on my cheeks and forehead at age 19. It undermined my confidence and left me so emotionally sensitive that I’d cry whenever my mom or a close friend would even bring it up.

My skin eventually improved (it was Accutane that finally worked), but I’ll never forget the way I felt over that trying time in my life.

Because knowledge is power, I’m always looking for new skin care tips. Here are 21 more tips to go with the ones I posted last week.

I hope you find them as handy as I did. 🙂

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like…

  1. Flawless Looking Skin: In this awesome video, YouTube member kandee describes how she cares for her skin, her favorite tips and product recommendations.

    2. flawless

  2. Aubrey’s Skin Care Routine: YouTube member Aubrey lists the products she uses to get her gorgeous, glowing skin.

    3. skinroutine

  3. What is Laser Skin Resurfacing? Wonder what a laser peel is? This article answers some of the most important questions.

    4. laser

  4. How to Exfoliate the Nose: It’s a tough area to work around, but the tips in this video can help.

    5. nose

  5. Substitute with Soy Milk: Having trouble with acne flareups? A simple switch from dairy to soy milk may help, and here’s why.

    6. soy

  6. What to Eat for Glowing Skin: To steal a quote from 30 Rock, one of my favorite TV shows, “Tracy, science is what we make it.” LOL! Not quite, but this post does have some scientific answers to why certain foods can help to heal and brighten a dull or damaged complexion.

    7. What to eat for glowing skin
    [Continue reading…]

Lovin’ LUSH Massage Bars

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Today Jessica RD of Just Another Beauty Blog shares why it pays to venture inside fragrant stores.

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Here’s the story with me and LUSH: I’ve walked past the brand for 10 years, covering my nose each time I’d walk by one of their stores because I just couldn’t stand the strong smell (if you’ve ever walked by one, you know what I mean!).

I’d never even stepped inside, but one day I read in a magazine about LUSH Massage bars and thought the idea sounded pretty cool, so I decided to hold my breath and give it a try.

I am SO glad I did!

First, LUSH Massage bars can be used for much more than mere massage.

Other ways to use LUSH massage bars

  • Use it all over your body for intense moisturizing that leaves you smooth until you wash it off
  • Dab it on your lips for an ultra-soothing lip balm
  • Pre-shaving if you don’t have water around
  • Post-shaving to sooth irritation and dryness
  • As an air-freshener; leave it on your counter, and it will fill the room with its scent
  • Melt a bit in your hands, and put on gloves overnight for that just-manicured softness
  • And, of course, let it melt a bit, and use it for massages!

So quite a few uses — and those are just the ones I discovered!

These bars are so luxurious. They melt by the warmth of your skin and are the single most intense moisturizer I’ve ever used!

You can purchase them online from lushusa.com or lush.ca, or from your local LUSH store or counter. The prices vary somewhat for the different bars, but they all cost between $8-9USD each.

Bargain

When you buy any two, LUSH will throw in a tin to store them in (I recommend this because they can get a little messy on a hot day, leaving residue on your counter), but a good ol’ soap dish works just as well.

Natural

Keep in mind LUSH’s wonderful tradition of fresh, handmade cosmetics from natural and organic sources. These bars are something you can feel good about slathering all over!

Here are a few of the ones I love…

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Soft Coeur

This tiny heart-shaped massage bar was a hit around Valentine’s Day, and with real chunks of chocolate in it, how could I have ever resisted? This one’s definitely the richest of the bars I’ve tried; perhaps a little too rich for everyday moisturizing, but perfect as a luscious lip balm. The scent is nice, but you just don’t get enough for the price! It’s pretty — but I’d try a different one first. B+

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Nutts

The scent is just like it sounds — a very strong nutty, cocoa-butter smell which might be a little overpowering for some. The bar melts fast, which makes it great for massages or moisturizing quickly on the go, and the oval shape fits perfectly into the massage bar tin. A

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Mange Too

With honey and white chocolate, this is the bar I leave out to fill my room with its wonderful aroma. It’s also one of the biggest bars available and lasts a long time.

The bar stays fairly solid, which is great when moisturizing all over (you don’t want it goopy!); however, the only downside is the honeycomb shape doesn’t fit into either the square or the oval tin… which is why I cut mine in half! Other than that it gets top marks for the amazing scent. A

Others that people are raving about…

Therapy

Made with organic Neroli oil. It delivers a more aromatherapeutic scent (instead of one that makes you crave dessert), while also helping to reduce stretch marks!

Heavanilli

It’s the latest addition to the LUSH massage bar collection and one I am dying to try! If you love the scent of vanilla, you may not be able to take your hands off this one!

Let me know

Let me know what you guys think of LUSH Massage bars and if you’d recommend any other LUSH products!

Oh, and about the store, once you’re inside it only takes about 20 seconds to get accustomed to the smell 🙂

This post was written by Jessica RD of Just Another Beauty Blog. When she isn’t blogging or creating video makeup tutorials, you’ll find her studying to be a doctor, beautifying others as a freelance makeup artist or working in a medical office. She loves MAC, NARS, Benefit, NYX, Coastal Scents and Covergirl.

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