Karen, Author at Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup - Page 1800 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

MAC Cult of Cherry On Sale Now: Product Shots, Swatches

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MAC counters nationwide are under constant attack today by crazed MAC fans (like me) dying to get their grubby, makeup stained hands on the new Cult of Cherry and Overrich collections. It’s total mayhem! 🙂

More on MAC Cult of Cherry and Overrich

I’m late for work and have to zip out the door, but here are swatches for now. I’ll post updates later today with more detailed reviews. Enjoy! 🙂

Eye Shadow Palettes ($36)

Shadowy Lady

Spiced Chocolate

Tempting

Lipsticks ($14)

Mattene Lipsticks ($14.50)

Tinted Lipglass ($14)

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Shu Uemura Fall 2008 Limited Edition Instinct Collection

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True confession: when I was nine years old, all I wanted out of life was to star in a Duran Duran video. My fourth grade brain believed it was my destiny to be that glamorous Patrick Nagel girl on the cover of the Rio album, and I thought that looking like her would lead to me being cast as John Taylor’s love interest in a video involving pirates and perhaps a very fast boat.


Illustration by Patrick Nagel

Sadly, I never fulfilled my Duran Duran music video dreams, but a part of me still yearns to be that glam album cover girl.

Enter Shu Uemura’s Fall 2008 collection. The minimalist shapes and lines used for the packaging feel oh-so-80s, as if Nagel’s Duran Duran cover exploded in my makeup bag.

The design echoes throughout the entire color collection of three blushes, three eye shadow duos, two lipsticks and a face powder, but the packaging isn’t the only thing that distinguishes this release from others this season.

Yes, the reds, browns and purples so popular this fall are also present here, but this collection is more about shine, gloss and textured layers. It’s a clean break from the matte eyes and lips we’ve seen so far.

Instinct marks the first collection for Kakuyasu Uchiide, Shu Uemura’s new international artistic director.

The Eye Shadow Duos


Mystifier Eye Shadow Duo

With a cream shadow on one side and a powder on the other, each Duo Eye Shadow ($36) provides plenty of flexibility. I can see myself wearing the cream shadows alone or layered beneath the powders. For an easy eye look (’cause, girl, you know I like easy!), I applied the cream shade on the lid and the powder in the crease.

The cream shadows feel thinner and drier than MAC Paint Pots do. One layer delivers a sheer wash of shimmery color (much like Laura Mercier’s Cream Eye Duos from the Dreamy collection); two layers create a bolder pop. If you have super oily lids, you might want to prime them first before applying these cream shadows to prevent color from settling into the creases of your eye.

The powdered shadows in these duos are classic Shu Uemura — finely milled, highly blendable and highly pigmented (aka eyelid heaven).

Mystifier, pictured above, houses a black and green duochrome cream shadow (SOO PRETTY) and a brownish bronze powder shadow.

Mesmerizer, below, holds a light purple cream shadow and gold powder shadow. I wore this to work a few days ago with a look similar to this gold and purple eye I did with MAC shadows.

I haven’t used Tantilizer, the third of the three fall collection eye shadow duos (a green cream shadow and a goldish bronze powder), but I love both of the other two. They’re easy to use and deliver just the right amount of color without going over the top.


Mesmerizer Eye Shadow Duo
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Would You Redesign Makeup and Beauty Blog?

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Makeup and Beauty Blog 1.0, April 2007

Happy Thursday, girls! I’m prepping posts on Shu Uemura’s Fall 2008 collection and MAC’s Cult of Cherry (on counters today!), but first I wanted to get your opinion on something I’ve been thinking about for a while: a redesign of Makeup and Beauty Blog.

I’m not a good web designer at all, but I feel like the blog could use a redesign. I don’t know… Maybe I just get a little tired of looking at the same thing.

The current design has been up since April of 2007, when I changed my web hosting from the free wordpress.com setup (similar to blogger) to a paid godaddy.com account (about $5/month) and migrated to wordpress.org using a free theme. That’s also when I got the www.makeupandbeautyblog.com domain name. Then, I got a copy of Photoshop Elements for Mac ($59) and a book on how to use it, found a cursive font I liked (Mariette) and put together the banner. If you’re curious about any of the early steps I took with the blog, leave me a comment and I’ll go into more detail.

Before that April the blog looked like the picture above (no banner, fewer categories, but overall the same idea). Sixteen months is a lifetime in blog years, and so I think it might be time for a change, like painting a room, buying new drapes, cleaning the carpets, etc.

Time for Makeup and Beauty Blog 3.0?

Is there anything you would like to see changed in Makeup and Beauty Blog 3.0? Or should the blog remain exactly the same? Any changes to the layout or colors? Is the pink too pink? Would you like to see a new banner up at the top? Do you like the current three columns, or would you prefer two? Is the font too small?

A Menu at the Top?

What about a drop-down menu up at the top of the page for the categories, which could replace the list of categories over in the right sidebar? Would that be easier to see?

An Image Gallery?

An image gallery to more easily browse through all the pictures on the blog? There are a lot of them, and a gallery might be a neat way to quickly zip around.

Games, Contests, Twitter?

Would you like to see me build more games and hold more contests? Does anyone use Twitter? I don’t know the first thing about it, but people tell me it’s fun.

Advertisements?

How about the ads? Are they well placed? Do they get in the way? Do you think they’re better than the Google text link ads I was using before? I know most people don’t like ads at all … but they do help pay the blog rent and help keep me motivated to write. That doesn’t mean they have to be obnoxious, though.

Share Your Thoughts

I know how busy you are, but I could sure use your help in the comments.

If you could change anything about the design of Makeup and Beauty Blog, what would you change? Please take a minute to throw some links or ideas at me in the comments.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

$40 Stila Chocolate Palette Set Caught My Eye

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Calling all chocoholics! I was surfing Stila’s website the other day and spied this limited edition Chocolate Palette Set. Isn’t it lurvely? I can’t stop thinking about it… like how I get when I’m craving brownies!

The case is what drew me to it. That faux suede packaging reminds me of fall boots… and chocolate. The thing just screams CHOCOLATE! What do you think of the embossed leaf pattern on the case and the pink agate under the ribbon? Pretty, yah?

The set sells for $40 and comes with three neutral eye shadow shades in brown, peach and beige; a peach blush; Lip Glaze lipgloss in Grapefruit (a frosted pink) and a tube of Stila Major Lash mascara. That’s about $6.70 per product, which isn’t bad at all.

What do you think? Drool worthy or passable?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Tarte Lash Hugger: Eco-Friendly Lash Lengthener

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Riddle me this: how do lashes go green without actually going green? Answer: by wearing Tarte’s Lash Hugger ($18). Billed as an eco-friendly mascara, Lash Hugger looks like a step in the right direction. Tarte skipped many of the chemicals commonly found in mascaras, like paraben, propylene glycol, and synthetic dyes and fragrances, and, to reduce environmental waste, they used recycled aluminum for the tube. Lash Hugger scores on the environmental front, but how does it perform?

The first thing I noticed about the product was the brush. I hoped the long bristles would give my lashes a nice mix of length, thickness and curl.


Before Lash Hugger
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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, August 20

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WHOWHATWEAR
Who What Wear takes the traditional fashion print magazine concept and injects it with molten hot internet flava! The site covers looks and accessories worn by trendy, fashion-forward celebs. It’s well written and fun.

BussBuss – The Online Shopping Bible
Depending on how you look at it, BussBuss.com will either save you money or cost you your savings. They publish a daily email newsletter, gift, trend and shopping guides, and what they call their Haute Shops — listings of hot fashion, beauty, home and gift shopping sites. Expect to find a new obsession within these walls, with lots of attention paid to up-and-coming, independent designers and access to exclusive deals.

The Pink Train Case
A search for “beauty blog” on Google returns 20 million results! Where to start? How about The Pink Train Case? Tanya writes thoughtful, engaging product reviews, and she’s a sucker for taupe eye shadow and puppies. Girl after my own heart. 🙂

Independent Fashion Bloggers
Sort of a trade journal for fashion bloggers, but I think it’s chock full o’ helpful tips for bloggers of all kinds. If you run a fashion or beauty blog (or any other kind of blog, for that matter), or think you might like to start one, click the pic.

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MAC Cult of Cherry and Overrich Collections Now Available Online

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Just a quick note for the MAC fans — MAC Cult of Cherry is now available online. Yup, the wait is over, and all MAC online purchases made by August 23 will also ship free.

Must. Exercise. Spending. Restraint.

Here’s a screen shot taken from an artsy-fartsy video MAC has posted on the Cult of Cherry page. It features a woman with a weird plaster cat. Interesting…

But Cult of Cherry isn’t the only MAC news of the day. The new Overrich pigment collection ($19.50 each) also launched online.

Featuring limited edition pigments in green, gold, mauve and copper shades, Overrich looks wearable and pretty. I’ve got a fetish for greens and golds and can’t wait to see both Vintage Gold and Antique Green in person.

You know it’s going to be a good day when you get your MAC fix before noon. 😉

Ladies, I’m on my umpteenth cup of coffee already and feeling kinda loopy! How goes your morning so far?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Beauty Sleep, Interrupted

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G’morning, girls! I hope you got your beauty sleep last night. I was up late partying with C. Bale (I wish; don’t tell El Hub, LOL!).

Tabs says hi! He’s in the doghouse today because he was naughty yesterday. He kicked kitty litter all over the floor and felt like meowing all night long.

With my help he put together this little story that he hopes you enjoy. 🙂

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