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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

80% off Napa Valley Sandals at Aerosoles

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Hi, ladies! I stopped by the mall after work and had to share an awesome sale. Check out these super cute Aerosoles platform shoes. What do ya think? They’re on sale right now, marked down from $89 to $19.99. That’s almost 80% off!

The shoe is “Napa Valley” (patent leather) and comes in three colors: black, green and yellow.

I really wanted the black pair, but they only had my size in yellow.

Even though they’re three-inch heels, they feel so comfortable on my feet. That’s Aerosoles, for ya. The soles are cushy, and the shape feels like it has good arch support.

Just reporting for my fellow shoe mavens out there. 🙂

How was Monday? I’m home now, trying to catch up on comments before I attack the dishes in the sink.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

How to Attend a Free Chanel Master Makeup Class

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chanel-master-class-1

Did you know Chanel provides free makeup classes for customers? The sessions are called Chanel Master Classes, and I went to my very first one last Saturday at my neighborhood Macy’s store.

Department store-sponsored makeup classes typically involve a group of customers observing how an artist applies makeup to a model. I’ve been to a few of them before, and while they’re fun (especially if you go with a friend) and good for a tip or two, they aren’t hands-on and can be kinda boring.

But there was nothing boring about the Chanel Master Class. Chanel makes sure you get your feet wet, so to speak. Instead of merely observing someone else apply makeup, you also get to do your own.

Interactive, Small Classes

Class sizes are kept small — just 12-16 students — so you don’t feel lost in the crowd. You get your own work station, complete with hand-held mirror and a cup filled with gloriously silky Chanel brushes. As an instructor demonstrates each technique on a model in the front of the class, you get to follow along with them, duplicating each technique on yourself.

In addition to the main instructor at the front of the class, a Chanel artist also sits with you to help you pick out colors and to be available to answer any questions you might have. Education + makeup + fun + snacks (cookies, crackers and bottled water) = Karen’s idea of a hella good time. 🙂

These courses are more than simply an opportunity to learn (not that there’s anything wrong with learning); you also get to play with soooo much Chanel. The entire Chanel makeup line is at your disposal to test, touch and drool over. HOLLA!

And if you know what products you want to try beforehand, you can ask your makeup artist for help. So awesome!

Going into the class, I knew I wanted to try the Emerald Coast eye shadow duo and Indigo Inimitable mascara…

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I ended up doing a light smokey green eye with nude lips and cheeks.

The Chanel Products I Chose to Use


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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, July 28

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  1. Mood: Contemplative…

  2. Lips: MAC High Tea lipstick (still trying to decide what gloss to pair it with)

  3. Fragrance: Bath and Body Works Rainkissed Leaves Lotion and Body Splash

  4. Breakfast: Frozen blueberry Eggo waffles and coffee

  5. First song I heard today: Like a Boy by Ciara

  6. Latest makeup find you’re telling all your homies about: Chanel Nude Lip Liner

  7. Outfit: Kinda bummy today — dark Joe’s Jeans, a white tank top, grey hoodie, Adidas shell toe shoes and big grey and purple chandelier earrings

  8. Lovin’ it: Sleep, coffee, a clean desk and Ciara’s music

  9. Something you don’t know about me: I hate the smell of Tabasco sauce.

  10. Goals for the week: Take Tabs to the vet, do some ab exercises and try not to stress out at work

Now it’s your turn. Just copy and paste this list, insert your answers and leave ’em for me in the comments. 🙂

Le list

Mood:
Lips:
Fragrance:
Breakfast:
First song I heard today:
Latest makeup find you’re telling all your homies about:
Outfit:
Lovin’ it:
Something you don’t know about me:
Goals for the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Smokey Eyes and Expert Assassins

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Have you seen the movie Wanted starring Angelina Jolie? It’s a cheesy action flick with several cool Matrix-inspired scenes. Angie looks great in it, and hawt day-am! — girlfriend sure works the smokey eye. I counted her wearing at least four stunning variations of it in brown-beige-black. Seriously, where do full-time, expert assassins find time to blend in the outer V? I always assumed they spent their free time cleaning guns and practicing jiujitsu rolls and whatnot. Who knew?

The movie itself didn’t exactly inspire me (two words: exploding rats), but I was inspired by Angie’s makeup in the film. I see some smokey eye looks in my future, for sure.

Speaking of smokey eyes, here are a few posts that featured them. How do you feel about smokey eyes? Have you ever worn one before?

  • Runway Smokey Eyes 101
    “Despite my proclamations of klutziness, Gordon Epsinet, Vice President of Makeup Artistry for MAC Cosmetics, insists that just about anyone (even me) can do a hot smokey eye.”

  • Mally City Chick Smokey Eye Kit in Nolita Navy: Makes Blue Eyes Easy
    “Nature’s rarest color isn’t always easy to work with, and even the simplest of blue eye looks can quickly devolve into hot blue messes if you don’t know which products to use and where to put them. Enter Mally Beauty’s Nolita Navy smokey eye kit (pictured up top), a palette of blue and peach shadows with a handy black pencil liner.”

  • Simple Smokey Eye with Chanel Winter Nights Quad
    “As far as complete looks are concerned, this one is quick and easy to do. I used shades from the Chanel Winter Nights Quad, a versatile set with four basic, but pretty shades of pink, peachy gold, green and light brown. The look works well for the office or for things like family functions or semi-formals.”

  • MAC Smokey Brown and Purple Eye
    “I was inspecting the purplish nether regions under my eyes this morning and feeling pretty crappy because of the whole no sleep thing, so I decided to run with it and try a purplish-brown smokey eye. The result improved my sour mood and put a lil’ spring in my step, for sure!”

  • A Smokey Eye with MAC Club
    “I had a lot of fun with MAC Club eyeshadow today. Its versatility makes it great for creating quick, daytime smokey eyes. I had about three seconds to put on my makeup this morning, and I owe this look to MAC Club. Paired with a few new products from Fafi and the N Collections, MAC Club helped me finish this look in 10 minutes.”

  • A Black and Gold Smokey Eye
    “I finally got my paws on MAC Fafi yesterday, and all I have to say is MEOW! Love it. This morning I busted out a few things from the collection — Fafi Eyes 1 Quad, Nice Vice Paint Pot and the Not So Innocent Lipstick — and created this subtle gold and black smokey eye for work.”

  • A Smokey Eye with MAC Pigment in Purple
    “So, I’m trying to figure out what makeup look to wear to the midnight Sex and the City show tonight. Purple + smokey eye = a lil’ bit out of my comfort zone, but I thought I’d give it a whirl.”

Tabby Cat Update

I found out that the pet store across the street offers low-cost veterinary services every so often and that the next time is this coming week, so I’m taking Tabs there for a full check up. 🙂 Worms be gone (ewww)!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. On Sundays a bunch of fellow beauty bloggers submit what they felt were some of their best posts of the week for a weekly roundup, and here they are. Here are last week’s best posts by the gals of the Beauty Blog Network.
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Beauty Snacks: Sites of the Day, July 27

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Reiss Online
I wish I could get my entire wardrobe at Reiss. A British chain store with nine stores in the United States, Reiss’ clothing evokes Jackie-O elegance — simple, modern, yet classic pieces with personality. Shopping there will put a serious dent in your wallet (many of their skirts, coats and dresses cost upwards of $200), but damn, baby, you’ll sure look good!

Spectra Visual Newsreader | msnbc.com
For all you visual learners out there (like moi), the Spectra Visual Newsreader might tickle your fancy. It’s a colorful, new way to read the news. News topics and headlines are represented by a range of rotating blocks of color. How cool is that?

COLOURlovers
If you need quick inspiration for a makeup look or design project (or even painting the walls at home), just head over to COLOURlovers. I could spend hours surfing the bajillion color patterns and palettes on the site and thinking of all the lid, crease and brow bone possibilities.

Now Smell This
I’ve learned a lot about perfume and fragrances reading the Now Smell This blog. With posts written by several contributors, the site covers breaking perfume news along with in-depth scent reviews.

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Save Big Bucks on Stila and Smashbox at Costco

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After that free Chanel makeup class wrapped up this afternoon (soooo fun — a post with deets on how you, too, can attend one to follow shortly), I stopped by Costco and browsed the bulk beauty aisle while El Hub stared hypnotized at the store’s giant row of HD TVs.

I found some really great deals!

photo

Seriously, I nearly fainted when I saw this cute limited edition Stila set called Brown Look ’08. For $18.99 you get one palette with four full-size pans of color coordinated shadows (brown, wine, peach and khaki), the #5 All Over Shadow Brush, the #9 All Over Blending Brush and one .18-oz tube of Major Lash Mascara in Black.

The exact same set sells for $40 on the Stila website (and it’s currently out of stock, to boot). Um, can you say hella cool bargain?

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I wasn’t quite as psyched about the second bargain I found but figured hard core Smashbox fans might appreciate knowing it’s there. $20 ($19.99) gets ya nine Smashbox items: Picture Perfect Eyeshadow Quad; a sample of Photo Finish Primer; three mini lipglosses in Pout, Fame and Glitz; Skintint in Radiance; a mini Lash Primer; That’s a Wrap mascara in Black and a cute, pink mirrored mini lipgloss case.

For $20, whoa!
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Rainkissed Leaves Takes Me Back: Bath and Body Works Rainkissed Leaves

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G’morning! 🙂

Yawn, I’m a little sleepy this morning. I got in late last night after seeing Sex and the City with my homegirl, Cindy. I’d already seen it once before, but I wanted to catch it again and promised Cindy I’d see it with her.

I kinda like revisiting movies and books; seems like I pick up on things I missed the first time around, like the first time I saw the movie I didn’t notice the wide, studded black belt Carrie wears to go apartment shopping with Big. Unless my mind was playing tricks on me (a frequent occurrence, I might add) that belt reappears in a number of Carrie’s outfits throughout the film.

Shalamar got it right when they sang the second time around.

Speaking of the second time around, I had serious fragrance deja vu yesterday with the new Rainkissed Leaves by Bath & Body Works. It reminds me of the smell of fresh cut flower stems, crushed leaves and soap and brought images of freshly cut suburban lawns to mind. Crazy as it sounds, I love it!

It’s a very “green” scent and bears a striking resemblance to my favorite Bath & Body Works fragrance of all time, Green Clover and Aloe. If you like fresh, green fragrances, you gotta check this out!

After my run yesterday afternoon, I washed with the shower gel (on sale now at B&BW for $6!), following it up with the Body Lotion ($10) and Body Splash ($11).

I didn’t want to stink up the theater, you know.

Oh, snap! I just realized I have to leave the house in 15 minutes to attend a free Chanel makeup instruction class at my local Macy’s store, and I am still in my pajamas. I recently heard about the class and wanted to check it out. I’ll report my findings later.

What are your plans for today? Is the weather nice in your neck of the woods?

Be back in a few! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

YOU MUST CHOOSE: Friday Randomness

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  • Would you rather have a forked tongue or very long, skinny, pointed teeth? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • Would you rather have to live six months without toilet paper or six months without a toothbrush (yes, this includes Sonicare)? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • Would you rather spend an entire night dancing to Prince songs or dancing to Michael Jackson songs?YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • Would you rather be forced to endure every single episode of American Gladiators (those girl gladiators are no joke) or every episode of Shot at Love with Tila Tequila? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • You’re on a date with a really cute guy (a boy you like A LOT). Unfortunately, you’re out of antacids and you have terrible gas. Would you rather pass silent but deadly gas every 15 minutes (you could always blame it on the waiter) or let out dainty burps that smell like sausage and onions? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • You’re trapped in an 80s music video. Which one is it? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • You get an urgent phone call. It’s Beyonce. She wants to know if she can wear your favorite pair of high heels to the Grammy Awards, but she still hasn’t returned the Juicy Couture terry cloth track suit you let her borrow in 2002. Do you loan her the shoes? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • Keanu Reeves circa Speed or Tom Cruise circa Top Gun? YOU MUST CHOOSE!

  • Wow, lucky you! You’re getting a live performer for your wedding reception; unfortunately, it must either be Bobby Brown or Jodeci. YOU MUST CHOOSE!

LOLOLZ… I think I’d have to go with Jodeci (I’ve left the rest of my answers in the comments).

You can play too. Just copy this list and add your answers. 🙂

YMC 1: Forked tongue or pointed teeth?

YMC 2: Toilet paper or toothbrush?

YMC 3: Prince songs or Michael Jackson?

YMC 4: American Gladiators or Shot at Love?

YMC 5: Silent but deadly or dainty burps?

YMC 6: 80s music video?

YMC 7: Yes or no to Beyonce?

YMC 8: Keanu or Tom?

YMC 9: Bobby Brown or Jodeci?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

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