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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

Would You Pay $225 for a Bronzer? Rock & Republic Sure Hopes So

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Are you ready to rock? I hope so, because Fashion house Rock & Republic unveils its first ever cosmetics collection this week. The enormous 116-item luxury release includes makeup for the face, cheeks and lips, as well as a line of tools. While most of the items are priced up in the Chanel range, some of them, like the $225 Accentuate Bronzer compact studded with Swarovski crystals shown above, even exceed it.

I haven’t seen the line in person yet, but the sleek, silver packaging and cold, minimalist promo pics don’t do a lot for my soul. Sure, I get that it’s supposed to be exclusive and luxurious, but is this the right time to be releasing a $225 bronzer?

Beyond the startling cost of the items in the collection, I’ve been more into girly, fun, accessible makeup lines like Stila and Benefit lately.

Let me know what you think.

Accentuate Bronzing and Highlighting Powder for Face and Cheeks, $225

Trickery Tinted Illuminator for Face, $48

Extremist Mascara, $28

Contrived Pressed Blush, $40


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New York Fashion Week Spring 2009, MAC Cosmetics Runway Looks from Days 7-8

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Here are a few more face charts MAC distributed to illustrate the makeup looks some of the designers sent down the runway at Fashion Week. These reflect looks from Thursday and Friday, the final two days of the show.

Not sure which of these I like best… Maybe the Zac Posen one with the violet lip.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Yu Be Moisturizing Cream: The #1 Selling Medicated, Vitamin-Enriched Skin Cream in Japan

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I was wandering around the bath section in Anthropologie yesterday when I spotted this odd-looking orange tube.

I thought it was candy from afar, but it’s actually Yu Be Moisturizing Cream ($15 for 1.25 oz) from Japan. It totally looks like something I’d find on a dusty shelf at Long’s Drugstore in Hawaii (NOTE: Long’s carries lots of interesting Asian beauty brands). It kinda looked out of place amongst the girly, froo-froo bath products at Anthropologie.

Yu Be is a glycerin-based moisturizing cream packed with vitamins E, B2 and camphor (stinky!). It’s used to treat split cuticles, chapped lips, cracked heels, calluses burns and severe dry skin.

According to the company history printed on the back, Yu Be’s been around since the late 1950s.

“World-class mountain climbers from Japan use it moisturize and protect their skin from the extreme cold and wind on expeditions to the summit of Mt. Everest.”

If it’s good enough for extreme climbers, it’s gotta be good enough for me, right?

I don’t know… I’ve got some hella dry alligator skin and crusty cuticles. 🙂
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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Sept. 15

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Climbing the 3,922 steps of the Haiku Stairs in 2003, Oahu, Hawaii

  1. Mood:

    2. Mellow

  2. Fragrance:

    3. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

  3. Friend I wish I could hang out with today:

    4. NBLACK

  4. Outfit:

    5. I’m sporting ye olde cranky librarian look today: brown tweed jacket, purple button-up shirt, pearls, glasses and dark jeans

  5. Mascara:

    6. Chanel Exceptionnel

  6. Lips:

    7. Chanel Papette lipstick topped with Delight Glossimer

  7. Food craving:

    8. Turkey and cranberry sandwich on really soft, sliced bread

  8. Makeup craving:

    9. Stila Convertible Color Blushes

  9. Shoes:

    10. Dark brown, suede, four-inch heels I can barely walk in from Nine West

  10. Goals for the day:

    11. Do a load of laundry before work, finish my filing and find a dress for the wedding I’m going to on Saturday

What’s on your mind today? To play, just copy this list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Le list

Mood:
Fragrance:
Friend I wish I could hang out with today:
Outfit:
Mascara:
Lips:
Food craving:
Makeup craving:
Shoes:
Goals for the day:

Here’s to us all having a good Monday! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays with Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Sept. 14

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I’m not the only film buff in the family. Tabs loves movies too. Before settling down, he worked as a makeup artist on a couple low budget Hollywood films and commercials. Once or twice he even filled in as an extra. Now he decorates his litter box with some of his favorite movie posters and self-portraits.


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Kate Spade Serena Bag, I Lurve You

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I’m at the mall right now and just found out there’s a new Kate Spade store here. Two words: sweet temptation! I’m a huge Kate Spade fan — LOVE the clean lines and feminine elegance of her bags and accessories. Yeah, most of her stuff is out of my budget, but it doesn’t hurt to look, right? 🙂


Serena, by Kate Spade, $325

Several items from the fall line were on display. The new bags, clutches and shoes sport lots of rich, dark colors like burgundy and deep brown, along with quite a few items in black/white, many with patent leather accents.

Black patent leather graces the handles on Kate’s new black and white fabric bags from her Classic Noel collection. I couldn’t take my eyes off the Serena bag ($325) shown above.

Serena does hobo chic with a single black patent leather handle, a zip top, royal purple interior liner and 14-karat gold plated hardware. Kate pre-treats the soft fabric exterior to make it highly stain resistant, so there’s less reason to worry about the white showing dirt right away. Plus, because these bags are pre-treated they’re pretty easy to clean (dry cleaning, or spot cleaning with a toothbrush and a mild soap).

Serena fit *perfectly* under my right shoulder. Girrrrl… it was love. Le sigh!

I’ll just have to keep saving my pennies. Meanwhile, I plan to “visit” her every chance I get.

Hope you’re having a kickin’ Sunday!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Grab a cup o’ tea and a find a comfy seat because it’s time to catch up on some reading with a few of the week’s best beauty, fashion and shopping posts from the ladies of the Splendicity Network.
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Deep Discounts on Stila Cosmetics with Beautycrunch.com

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Do you remember the Stila fall chocolate eye shadow palette ($40) I was drooling over a few weeks ago? Well, I was surfing the web last night and stumbled upon a slightly stripped down version of it on sale at Beautycrunch.com for $12.80.

Where the heck has Beautycrunch been all my life? Is it new, or have I just been sleeping under a rock?

As far as I can tell (saw numerous references to it on Makeup Alley and YouTube), the company’s selling legitimate products, but I admit the low prices made me wonder.

Their version of the chocolate palette doesn’t include the Lip Glaze ($22 if purchased separately) or Major Lash Mascara ($8.50 if purchased separately), which accompany the original $40 Stila palette, but if what you really want are the palette’s blush and the three eye shadows ($18 per pan if purchased separately), you can skip the stuff you wouldn’t use anyway and walk away with 4 products for $20.75 (after $7.95 shipping and handling).

And Beautycrunch has lots of other fab Stila stuff, among other brands, at 50-70% off. Needless to say, I stayed up late e-window shopping and filling my cart. 🙂
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Recent Posts You May Have Missed

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Heya, chicas. Can you believe it’s already mid-September? Before you know it, it’ll be Thanksgiving, then Christmas… Where does the time go?

I’m already feeling a little nostalgic for summer, so I put together this list of posts from July. These were some of my favorites of the month.

  1. Gaga for Gold with Chanel Fall 2008
  2. Makeup Tutorial: A Peach, Brown and Green Eye for Summer
  3. Mally City Chick Smokey Eye Kit in Nolita Navy: Makes Blue Eyes Easy
  4. The $29 Drugstore Beauty Roundup
  5. Loving on MAC Love Connection Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo
  6. Autumn in the City: Sally Hansen Fall Nail Lacquer Colors by Tracy Reese
  7. A Green and Grey Eye with MAC Fresh Green Mix Mineralize Eye Shadow Duo
  8. Save Big Bucks on Stila and Smashbox at Costco
  9. How to Attend a Free Chanel Master Makeup Class
  10. Tuesday Beauty Tips: Be Good to Yourself

Not much on my agenda for today beyond some cleaning and maybe a trip to the mall. El Hub asked that I help him pick out some new clothes for work. In boy parlance that means his last few pairs of pants have holes in them, lol!

Have a good one today. Tabs says hi.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Hey, animal lovers. Stop by the cosmetics department at the downtown San Francisco Bloomingdale’s this Thursday, September 18, for a Day of Beauty for Pets. The event will benefit Pets Unlimited, a local non-profit providing emergency medical treatment and adoption services for pets.


I volunteered with them as a dog walker a couple years ago and had a lot of fun. They’re a fantastic organization.


On the 18th, Bloomies will donate 10% of all cosmetics purchases to Pets Unlimited. You can even bring along your pet to help you shop. Fido can get his picture taken or his portrait drawn while Fluffy gets her pet tag engraved. Keep an eye out for the workshop on holistic animal care.


If you live out of the area but would still like to support the cause, call Bloomingdale’s at (415) 856-5540 to place an order by phone. They even ship internationally (as long as your items aren’t flammable, lol!). For more information, visit Bloomingdale’s.com.

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