Karen

Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, October 27

October 27th, 2008 by Karen 79 Comments

French toast from La Boulange bakery, Mill Valley, CA

Mood:

Relived because Tabs came home last night! 🙂

Fragrance:

Eyes:

MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow Trio in Inter-view from the Red She Said collection, MAC Technakohl in Graphblack, MAC Zoomlash mascara in Zoomblack.

Lips:

More MAC goodness: Spice lip liner, Quiet, Please lipstick and Miss Dynamite Dazzleglass.

Cheeks:

MAC Beauty Powder Blush in Enough She Said (yup, it’s a Red She Said kinda day!).

Shoes:

Bronze t-strap four-inch heels by Franco Sarto, circa 2003.

I’m lovin’ it (makeup related):

L’Oreal Skin Genesis Wet Cleansing Towelettes.

I’m lovin’ it (non-makeup related):

Life, seeing deer grazing in the hills around my neighborhood, Tabs sleeping in bed between me and El Hub last night, breakfast at the French bakery down the street.

Working out today?:

Yup, a jog around the neighborhood to take advantage of the fall weather.

Goals for the week:

To go running every day this week, to try something new every day this week, to cherish life and to appreciate the small things.

Let’s do this, ladies! Just copy the empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Le list

Mood:
Fragrance:
Eyes:
Lips:
Cheeks:
Shoes
I’m lovin’ it (makeup related):
I’m lovin’ it (non-makeup related):
Working out today?:
Goals for the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Oct. 26

October 26th, 2008 by Karen 40 Comments

Reunited, and It Feels So Good

Your girl’s *one* happy camper right now. Guess who showed his purty face after four full days on the lam. Maybe it’s hard out there for a pimp, eating lizards and fighting off the neighborhood cat thugs. He must have wanted a home cooked meal (aka Fancy Feast: Tuna in Gravy).

Look at that face… He’s a lover, not a fighter.

Life Is Short

Earlier this afternoon El Hub and I went to an outdoor memorial service for a family friend who died unexpectedly last week. He was only 42, a big, muscular guy almost 300 pounds who was larger than life and always had a smile on his face.

He suffered a bad asthma attack last Monday and wound up going to the emergency room. Then, suddenly, what had been a minor staph infection spiraled out of control. He passed away on Wednesday from the infection, just two days after being admitted to the hospital. It’s hard to believe how fleeting life is.

I didn’t know him well, but I was very touched by the speeches his friends and family gave at the memorial. I’ll never forget how the afternoon light filtered through the trees onto his widow’s face…

My heart was heavy when I got home. I was halfway up the stairs to the front door when I heard a meow and looked down to see Tabs crawling out from under a parked car.

That smokey-eyed beast has some hella good timing. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

This Week’s Most Popular Posts

October 26th, 2008 by Karen 2 Comments

Does L’Oreal Bare Naturale Mascara Thicken, Lengthen AND Separate Lashes?
“Bare Naturale shines as a drugstore mascara; that $9 price kicks butt… If you’re on the market for a paraben-free mascara to lengthen and separate and aren’t in need of thicker lashes, then Bare Naturale should do ya just fine.”

10 Fantastic Smokey Eye Tutorials
“One of my favorite things about makeup is that there’s always room to step up your game. I love to imagine all the tips and tricks that I’ve yet to learn. I’m always looking to get better at doing smokey eyes. I’ve come across hundreds of smokey eye tutorials, and I think these 10 are some of the most helpful ones.”

Wedding Palette Auditions: Stila Cover Look No. 2
“What do you think of the pink lips? I think it might be a little too disco for a church wedding. Don’t get me wrong — I’m usually pro-disco lips (WOOT!), but maybe not this time.”

Estee Lauder Vintage Jewels Holiday Collection: Holiday Treasure
“Estee Laduer should’ve called this a long-wearing eye pencil, too, because DANG, this stuff stays on forever. Once it’s on it hangs around longer than your stalker ex-boyfriend, on *both* the lash and water lines. I think I might love this even more than Lancome Le Stylo waterproof (gasp!), which I’ve been wearing practically non-stop for months, and I’m even tempted to get the two other shades.”

Paul and Joe for Disney: American Debut Coming Soon!
“The Paul and Joe for Disney collection, released earlier this year overseas, debuts at Bergdorf Goodman in New York next month. All I have to say about this is WOOTY WOOT WOOT! I’m a huge Disney fan so this collaboration is a dream come true.”

Which China Glaze Rodeo Diva Shade Do You Like Best?
“I think these dark colors are perfect for fall, yet they pack enough shimmer to make ’em fun and spunky at the same time. The shades aren’t as bold as previous releases like Ink, 2BHAWT and 2BKEWL, and I’m glad to see China Glaze is keeping things interesting.”

How Do You Wear Red Lipstick? Tips and Tricks
“Like the Ol’ Faithful of lip looks, a red lip is one of the most reliable, fool-proof ways to steal the spotlight. But red and other bright lip shades can be challenging colors to wear. My secret to wearing reds like Lancome’s Absolute Rouge ($29) is to apply them using a MAC 316 Covered Lip Brush ($19).”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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MAC Adoring Carmine 3 Rose Lips: A Pink Lipstick Double Play

October 26th, 2008 by Karen 40 Comments

The 3 Rose Lips set ($35.50) from the MAC Adoring Carmine holiday collection makes my pink lipstick-obsessed heart flutter.

Yeah, you might think the red patent bag looks a bit cheesy — it’s more dominatrix than happy holidays — but if you can overlook that, then this lip set is totes worth your attention.

What You Get: Pink-a-licious Goodness

To Swoon For: A creamy mauve pink lipstick in the MAC Glaze finish — thin and light on the lips and delivers light to medium coverage. Expect a natural pink lip flush.
Romancin’: A creamy magenta lipstick in the MAC Lustre finish. With medium coverage and a slightly thicker feel on the lips than the Glaze finish, Romancin’ reminds me of a perfect pink rose petal.
Delicate Crush Lipglass: A shimmery cool mauve pink. Delicate Crush was my least favorite of the three products in the set. By itself it looks milky and kinda sickly on my pucker; I think pairing it with a pink liner like MAC Pink Treat Cremestick Liner would make it much more wearable.

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MAC Little Darlings Sneak Peek!

October 25th, 2008 by Karen 27 Comments

For the holidays last year, MAC must have had Tootsie Rolls and time capsules in mind for the packaging of their Curiositease collection — six sets of mini lipglosses, eye pencils and pigments housed in elegant white cylinders with gold and silver accents.

This year, MAC revisits the giant Tootsie Roll with Little Darlings ($29.50 per set), scheduled to arrive November 16 as part of MAC Holiday 2008.

This capsule is hard to miss. Ya’ll know I love red, but the packaging feels a little cold to me. It’s modern — I’ll give it that.

Today I checked out two of the sets from the new collection: 5 Neutral Lipglass/Lustreglass (strange name for a set) and 5 Warm Pigments/Glitter.

5 Neutral Lipglass/Lustreglass

5 Neutral Lipglass/Lustreglass includes mini-tubes of the following products:

Beau Lustreglass: a shimmery, warm beige-brown
C-Thru Lipglass: a shimmery peachy beige
Languish Lipglass: a deep bronze with golden pearl
Love Nectar Lustreglass: a light peachy-pink with golden pearl
Mouthwatering Lipglasss: a shimmery light pink-beige

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Save Money on Makeup and Beauty in 30 Seconds or Less with ShopLocal.com

October 25th, 2008 by Karen 13 Comments

ShopLocal takes those ad circulars you get stuffed between the pages of your local newspaper, scans them into a computer and then makes them easy to search.

Track down sales and gifts with purchase deals at Macy’s, Nordstrom, Bath & Body Works, Ulta, Sephora and hundreds of other retailers, and find the closest store.

On the site, click “Change Location” or “Select a City,” and input your ZIP code or city and state. Back at the main screen, enter the name of a store and click “SEARCH.”

Once you’ve opened a circular on the screen, hover your mouse pointer over it for details of each deal and valid dates.

$Macy\'s Circular$

It’s not comprehensive, and I wasn’t always able to find circulars for every store I suspected of having one, but I was able to find some pretty kick ass deals at my local Macy’s, Walgreens and Target stores — and without staining my fingers with newspaper ink, blech!
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Free $60 Clinique Trina Turk Gift with Purchase at Nordstrom Stores Nov. 5-22

October 24th, 2008 by Karen 13 Comments

All hands on deck! An interesting gift with purchase deal just popped up on makeup radar, ladies. If your sights are set on $25 or more in Clinique products, consider standing down till November 5, when you can take advantage of Nordstrom’s Trina Turk for Clinique (a $60 value) gift with purchase!

The Deets

The deal runs from November 5-22 at Nordstrom stores nationwide and online. To qualify for the gift with purchase, all you have to do is purchase $25 or more in Clinique products.

Clinique’s First GWP Designer Collaboration

This is Clinique’s first foray into a designer collaboration GWP. Trina Turk, known for her sophisticated a designer clothing prints, hand picked all the items in the eight-piece set, and her clothes inspires the included silver and white tiger print cosmetics bag.

Love the Bag!

When it comes to GWP sets, there are usually at least a couple items I end up giving away (girrrrrl, like those ubiquitous GWP tubes of Clinique Raspberry Glace lipstick!), but not here, not this time. You’ll want to keep the goodies that come with this set. 🙂

I’m a raging accessories freak, and this bag looks like a big step up from the thin, nondescript bags normally packaged with GWPs. But bag or no bag, I think it’s the makeup that makes this set something to look forward to.

What You Get

Zero Gravity Repairwear Lift (love it!)
Rinse-off Foaming Cleanser
Compact containing Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Beach Plum (a shimmer gold and shimmery violet) and Soft-Pressed Powder Blush in New Clover (a matte plum)
Lash Doubling Mascara in Black
Long Last Glosswear SPF in Bamboo Pink (read the full review)
Long Last Lipstick in Beach Coral (shimmery pink coral)
Mirrored silver lipstick case

From left to right: Bamboo Pink, Beach Coral, shimmery shade from the Beach Plum eye duo, shimmery violet shade from the Beach Plum eye duo, New Clover blush, Lash Doubling mascara in black

A Look for All Seasons

The gold, plum and coral shades included with the set have a summer and beach-inspired feel to them. Yep, they’re a little out of step with most dark fall and winter shades, but I think that’s part of their charm. They’re pretty and wearable and spark all kinds of new ideas.

Fans: Your Best Friend

LOL! I realize that the hair blown effect in these pics crosses the line into cheese-tacular blogger photography territory, but I’m sorry… I couldn’t help myself!

I’m convinced that the windblown fan effect compensates for at least a few hours of sleep and has anti-aging properties because I laughed so hard taking these pics that I feel 10 years younger. If I could, I’d tote a fan around with me 24-7. I totally would! You hear that, Mariah Carey? You ain’t the only one with a fan now, girl!
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How Do You Wear Red Lipstick? Tips and Tricks

October 24th, 2008 by Karen 33 Comments

Like the Ol’ Faithful of lip looks, a red lip is one of the most reliable, fool-proof ways to steal the spotlight.

But red and other bright lip shades can be challenging colors to wear. My secret to wearing reds like Lancome’s Absolute Rouge ($29, pictured above) is to apply them using a MAC 316 Covered Lip Brush ($19).

With the 316’s firm, pointed tip I can really get in where I need to get, precisely controlling my lines and delivering the right amount of pigment for my look — kinda like drawing with a sharpened pencil versus trying to draw with a stubby crayon. When applying directly from a tube of lipstick, I’ll often end up with uneven color or color breaking outside the lines of the natural shape of my lips. Not cute, ladies!

For my makeup this week I’ve alternated between Estee Lauder’s Ruby and Lancome’s Absolute Rouge.

A classic tomato red with subtle golden pearl, Absolute Rouge arrived last August as part of Lancome’s L’Rouge Absolue lipstick line. Richly pigmented, it was designed for full coverage and moisture, thanks, according to Lancome, to Pro-Xylane, a deeply-moisturizing molecule found across their Absolute skincare range. Whatever, right? It’s pretty — the most important thing.

Got any tips or tricks for wearing red lips? Come on, share your secrets. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen