Karen, Author at Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup - Page 1790 of 1879

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

Lip Look: Carol’s Daughter Candy Paint Lipgloss

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Afternoon, cuties! I stepped away from my friend Jen’s bridal shower for a minute to say hi. I started this post before I left the house this morning. With WordPress it’s easy to finish blog posts from a mobile phone, which is kinda cool.

Anywho, the gift bags were a big hit. Although it’s a tea party theme, and we’re having different teas and dainty finger sandwiches, the party was organized by Filipinos, which also means fried food and perhaps even some karaoke, LOL! I practiced in my living room this morning with a few Jordin Sparks songs. 🙂

I wanted to share some lip looks with ya. These three cuties pictured above are from the Candy Paint lipgloss line ($13.50 each) by Carol’s Daughter. The company is well known for fragrances, body and hair products. These glosses mark their first foray into cosmetics.

Bronze Goddess: a sheer brown with shimmery gold

Grown and Sexy: A sheer pink with shimmery gold

Hot Mocha: A creamy brown

The shades look darker in the tube than they do once they’ve been applied. The formula reminds me of MAC Lipglasses but is a touch thinner and not quite as sticky. These give off a strong minty fragrance that lasts for a few minutes (it may still be there; could be I just got used to it) and a slight mint flavor. I’m not crazy about the sensory overload, but if you like mint these will be like Christmas candy to you.

The product contains all natural ingredients, notably grapeseed oil, shea butter, aloe vera extract and vitamin E, and the whole recipe adds up to some quality hydration and lip conditioning. Carol’s Daughter managed to do this all without mineral oil, artificial colors and parabens, too.
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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, Sept. 27

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How-To: Hayden Panettiere’s Emmys Look

  • Super heroine Hayden Panettiere rocked a cute, tasteful smokey eye to the 2008 Emmy Awards last week. BellaSugar put together this handy how-to with tips from celeb makeup artist Amy Oresman.

How To Cope With A Quarter-Life Crisis (Part Two)

  • A few years ago I went through a craptacular time in my life, questioning my career and some of the bigger decisions I’d made through that point. When I came across this spec-freakin-tacular post by Gala of galadarling.com, the phrase “quarter-life crisis” cleared up a few things for me. If you’re stumbling through your 20s like I did, read on, soulja!

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick is Phenomenal!

How to Wear: Scarves

  • I lurve scarves! — and with scarf weather quickly approaching, I danced in my chair when I found this short video clip on how to wear scarves at Who What Wear. I want that damn closet too…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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Taming Waves with Bumble and Bumble Curl Conscious

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Let me take this moment to apologize to winged creatures everywhere, because since I started using the latest additions to Bumble & Bumble’s Curl Conscious line of shampoos, conditioners and styling treatments, the bird’s nest on my head has been closed for renovations.

The Curl Conscious line has been around for years, but Bumble & Bumble gave it a face lift, adding a few new products and changing the packaging while maintaining the overall focus on products for curly and wavy hair.

Three New Curl Conscious Products

  • Nourishing Masque ($25 for a 5-fl oz. tube), a conditioning treatment usable as a hydrating mask or a regular conditioner (the way I preferred), moisturizes the heck out of my hair. With a lovely orange scent, it softens hair without weighing it down. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

  • Holding Foam ($27 for 3.5 oz. bottle), a gel-to-foam styling product, delivers exceptional hold and structure for wavy hair, while keeping it touchably soft. I use it on damp hair after conditioning and then air dry. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

  • Reactivating Mist ($22 8.5-fl oz. for a spray bottle), a spray for either wet or dry hair, re-activates styling product and revives limp curls. I spritz it from roots to ends after applying the Holding Foam. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A

If you’re curious about the changes to the Curl Conscious line, surf over to the Curl Conscious section of Bumble & Bumble’s website. It features how-to videos as well as a snazzy “recipe card” with product recommendations for different hairstyles.

How’s your hair doin’ these days? Is it misbehaving or being nice?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

YOU MUST CHOOSE: The Barney vs. Bootsy Edition

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1. That man of your dreams (you know the one) finally asks for your hand in marriage. You can have any kind of wedding you want — the sky’s the limit — but dream guy insists upon one thing: he wants to get hitched wearing either a Bootsy Collins outfit (complete with guitar, hat and crazy glasses) or a Barney costume. The choice is yours.
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

2. If you had to eat the same exact thing for six straight months — breakfast, lunch and dinner — and had to choose between cold boiled chicken (no spices or sauce) or cold, bland oatmeal, which would it be?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

3. Which former Saved By the Bell heartthrob would you rather have martinis with: Mark-Paul Gosselaar or cheeseball o’ the century Mario Lopez?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

4. If you had to go for a month without one of them, would you live without moisturizer (no oils, moisturizing mists, nothing!) or toothpaste?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

5. Which would you rather give up for one year: the internet or underwear (includes bras, panties, sports bras, swimsuits, etc. — you’re basically commando)?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

6. You win a very random makeup lottery in which you’re given $2,000 to spend on any makeup you want! What do you buy?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

7. A friend of yours builds a time machine and gives you the keys. Do you use it? If so, when and where do you go?
YOU MUST CHOOSE!

To play You Must Choose, just copy the list and leave your answers in the comments. 🙂

  1. Bootsy or Barney?
  2. Cold chicken or cold oatmeal?
  3. Mark-Paul Gosselaar or Mario Lopez?
  4. A month without moisturizer or a month without toothpaste?
  5. Internet or underwear?
  6. $2,000 on makeup? What do you get?
  7. Time travel when and where?

Yea, we made it to Friday, WOOT!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

MAC Cosmetics Gold Fever Product Pictures and Swatches

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MAC’s new Gold Fever collection, exclusive to Nordstrom stores, joins a couple other big MAC releases today (Suite Array and Cremesheen).

As the name implies, Gold Fever is all about peaches and cream…

Just kidding. It’s gold, girls — and silver — and a whole lotta disco glitter, yes!

The complete product list:

Slimshines ($14.50)

  • Voile: Canary yellow with gold pearl (Frost)
  • Missy: Creamy pastel coral (Cream)

Shadesticks ($16.50)

  • Penny: Light pinky copper
  • Sharkskin: Shimmering grayed black

Liquidlast Liners ($16.50)

  • Classic Cream: White gold
  • Auto Orange: Rusted copper with pearl

Fluidline ($15)

  • Blacktrack: Solid flat black

Pigments ($17.50)

  • Golden Lemon: Bright Lemon gold with shimmer (Frost)
  • Silver Fog: Platinum silver (Pearl)

Glitter ($17.50)

  • Gold: Sparkling chunky gold
  • 3D Silver: Holographic multi-coloured effects on a silver base

Brushes ($17-$23)

  • 209 Eyeliner Brush ($17)

    • 


  • #242 Shader Brush ($23)

Lashes ($12)

  • #3 Lashes
  • #34 Lashes

If you eat glitter for breakfast and love flashy club makeup, you’ll probably love the glitter and sparkle Gold Fever has to offer. The big glitter and flashy metallic colors aren’t really my regular style, so I may not pounce on Gold Fever right away, but I don’t know… How frickin’ awesome is that outfit the model’s wearing in the Gold Fever promo pic?

I lurve the poofy gold dress and those wicked forehead jewels (I bet they shoot lasers!). Imagine how fierce your shoes would have to be to go with that get up. LE SIGH!

If I could pull it off, I’d totally roll around looking like that 24-7, LOL!

More product shots and swatches…

Voile Slimshine

Missy Slimshine

Auto Orange Liquidlast Liner


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MAC Cosmetics Cremesheen Product Pictures and Swatches

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A new kid’s in town, and her name is Cremesheen — MAC Cremesheen. The collection joins two other major MAC releases that arrived on counters nationwide today: Suite Array, and Gold Fever (exclusive to Nordstrom stores).

Say hello to Cremesheen’s 14 new lipstick colors.

“Hi! Hello!”

They’re accompanied by a single nail polish, Seasonal Peach (kinda random, right?). With the Cremesheen collection, MAC introduces a brand new lipstick formulation. Is it any good?

Let’s find out. 🙂

On the lipstick scale, I think these feel creamier and thicker than MAC Lustre lipsticks do. I love lippies, and the Cremesheen lipsticks feel surprisingly light and slick for how thick they are. MAC played it safe, too, as far as flavor, making them both taste- and fragrance- free. They’re easy to apply, deliver full color coverage, and just one coat makes my pucker shine like fine china.

Sadly, Seasonal Peach, the lone nail polish in the Cremesheen collection, was mysteriously MIA at my local MAC counter today, but all 14 of the lipsticks were in the hizz.

Of the 14 Cremesheen colors, On Hold, Party Line and Stay in Touch were my early faves. A couple of the colors looked pretty in the tube but didn’t work well for me (Creme d’Nude and Hot Gossip).

Cremesheen Lipsticks ($14)

  • Creme d’Nude: Pale muted peach beige
  • Ravishing: Clean, lightly peachy coral
  • Speed Dial: Light blue pink
  • Fanfare: Mid-tone yellow pink
  • On Hold: Mid-tone yellow raspberry
  • Speak Louder: Clean poppy blue pink
  • Modesty: Muted neutral pink
  • Hot Gossip: Mid-tone pinky plum
  • Crosswires: Clean pinky orange
  • Stay in Touch: Lightly yellow brown
  • Brave Red: Bright yellow red
  • Dare You: Deep brown red
  • Party Line: Red-tone plum
  • Hang-Up: Deep berry

Nail Lacquer ($10)

  • Seasonal Peach:Creamy pale peachy pink

Brave Red: Bright yellow red


Creme d’Nude: Pale muted peach beige


Crosswires: Clean pinky orange


Dare You: Deep brown red


Fanfare: Mid-tone yellow pink


Hang-Up: Deep berry



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MAC Cosmetics Suite Array Product Pictures and Swatches

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Hiya! I raced to the MAC counter before work, whee! I wanted to catch a glimpse of today’s new releases. Here are product shots and swatches of Suite Array. Let me know what you think. I will also post shots and first impressions of the Cremesheen and Gold Fever collections later in the day.

Eye Shadow Suite ($16)

Blue Zone

  • Small Pan: Deep grey/green with silver pearl
  • Big Pan: Light ice blue with silver pearl

Counterparts

  • Small Pan: Deep forest with gold pearl
  • Big Pan: Mid-tone orange with gold pearl

Ocean 2

  • Small Pan: Mid-tone blue with silver pearl
  • Big Pan: Light blue with silver pearl

Rose Suites

  • Small Pan: Intense blue pink
  • Big Pan: Light yellow pink with silver pearl

Shallow V. Deep

  • Small Pan: Bluish green with gold pearl
  • Big Pan: Mint with silver pearl

Smoke & Ash

  • Small Pan: Black with silver pearl
  • Big Pan: Mid-tone grey silver pearl


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Small Things Rule: Orly Mani Mini Nail Polishes

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Like a miniature giant, I TOWER over the world around me. I don’t mind being vertically challenged, but at just over five feet tall it bugs me when pre-pubescent kids ask me whose class I’m in, or when a box of cereal mocks me from an out-of-reach shelf at the grocery store.

Other than these few annoyances, I’m totally down with being small.

As a matter of fact, I have a soft spot in my heart for other small things, like babies, Smurfs and Hershey’s Kisses, and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Orly’s Mani Mini nail polishes.

Aren’t they precious?

Drugstore brand Orly offers an extensive line of nail polish colors and nail care products. Each of their four Mani Mini sets runs $9.95 and comes with four tiny 0.18-fl oz bottles.

I like these wee tykes. I can never seem to finish a full-sized bottle of nail polish, so it makes sense to me to package ’em smaller and sell ’em for less.

The Classics set comes with four safe shades in colors designed to work in every season.

  • Berry Sweet: shimmery hot pink
  • Haute Red: creamy red
  • Ruby: creamy wine
  • Sheer Peche: transparent light peach

Berry Sweet


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