Karen

The MAC Girls Risk Taker Palette

March 16th, 2018 by Karen 5 Comments

mac risk taker palette open — Should you take a chance?

Hocus-pocus ?‍♀️ Powersurge! Presto change-o ?? Honeylust! Alakazam Satin Taupe and Woodwinked, too!

By the Power of Grayskull, I HAVE THE POWER. ?

If you know this incantation (and I do!), you’re probably a MAC gal or guy, and if you are, then it’s OK to freak out a little (go ahead, I’ll wait), because MAC just dropped three new MAC Girls Palettes into the permanent line. They also brought back the six they launched last year.

So yeah, now you can get them whenever you want. They’re $39.50 each and available online and at “select” MAC stores, which is MAC code for “better call your local counter to check first.”

This one is Risk Taker, and it riffs on some MAC permanent colors I’ve loved for years. Like, Bossing It looks a little like Woodwinked, Outfitted looks kinda like Honeylust, and Risky Business is like the more sparkly version of Satin Taupe. The whole thing spoke to my soul when I opened it for the first time, so of course I automatically assumed I’d have a good time with it.

And I did… Mostly.

https://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/mac-risk-taker-palette-open-closeup.jpg — AHHH!

mac risk taker palette on lids — MAC Risk Taker on my lids, Urban Decay Fuel Lipgloss on my lips, and NARS Kingpin and Buzzed blush on my cheeks.

mac risk taker palette swatches — Yup, still a MAC NC42.

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The New NARS NARSissist Wanted Cheek Palette II

March 15th, 2018 by Karen 8 Comments

nars narsissist wanted cheek palette 2 — The new NARS NARSissist Wanted Cheek Palette II ($59)

Hark! Dost thou hearest the ? trumpets? ’tis the clarion call of the makeup goddesses! Have they answered my call? Because the blushes in the new NARS NARSissist Wanted Cheek Palettes are JUST AS GOOD as the blushes in the permanent collection. If you’ve been into makeup for a while, you’ve probably seen some pretty dicey LE products before, but everything in this palette is permanent collection caliber. Same quality as the NARS blush singles.

Six powder blushes live in the $59 NARS NARSissist Wanted Cheek Palette II — three mattes and three shimmers — and the only re-promoted shade is Taos. The other five are limited edition.

nars narsissist wanted 2 cheek arm swatches — PYT, Ambition, Taos, Explosed, Penthouse and Queen

Wanted II is the Wanted option designed for darker divas, whereas Wanted I caters to lighter lovelies.

As you may already know, because I’ve been saying it for, oh, 11 years (!), I’m a MAC NC42, and I feel like I can wear these blushes, but it definitely takes more effort than Wanted I. I have to bust out my fan brush AND an additional blending brush, because the Wanted II colors look dark on my skin (so they’re more effort to buff and blend), but because they’re so finely milled, they’re still easy to work with. The petite powder particles practically prance across the skin.

It’s just that the colors require some moderately serious buffing to get them looking natural on the apples of your cheeks.

nars exposed blush cheek swatch — Exposed

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New Spring 2018 Items for Cat Ladies and Makeup Lovers on connorclaire.com

March 15th, 2018 by Karen 18 Comments

When I’m not at my tabby’s beck and call, I do other things…like baking (or trying to), watching The Voice, or Humans 2.0, or The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, or designing tees for connorclaire.com.

Yes, I have an online store.

I KNOW! It has been a tad neglected for a while, but I just launched some new products I’m really excited about. Purr-usual, most are for my fellow cat ladies and makeup lovers.

There are some new clothes and accessories, too! I’m currently living in The Makeup Nerd Sweatshirt (New 2018 Version). It’s cute, cozy, soft, and the purple accent just happens to be on trend this year (purple is also my favorite color). Plus, it’s black and goes with everything (bonus: also conceals most colors of cat fur pretty well).

I’m also loving the new Lipstick Hearts iPhone Case, and I think you would, too. I used real lipsticks to draw the hearts, and you can actually see the texture of the waxy bullets in the print…which I think is kinda cool.

Connor, by the way, insists on wearing the Future Crazy Cat Lady ensemble every chance she gets.

To answer what may or may not be the question that just popped into your head, no, it isn’t available (yet) in sizes for adults. 🙂

future crazy cat lady toddler two piece set — The kitty was her idea, I swear.

More products are coming soon for spring/summer 2018, and I’ll announce them through the connorclaire.com newsletter, which I hope you’re signed up for.

Thank you for being so supportive over the years. This particular endeavor has been a labor of love, and I plan to finally devote more time to designing and creating new products that I hope you’ll like as much as I do. 🙂

Anyway, go check out the new stuff!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The New NARS NARSissist Wanted Cheek Palette I

March 14th, 2018 by Karen 16 Comments

nars narsissist wanted 1 palette top pic — Your new favorite everyday blush palette

WANTED! Reward offered for the capture of the new NARS NARSissist Wanted Cheek Palette I, which may or may not have fallen between the cushions of my couch.

This bad boy is $59 and one of two new LE NARSissist Wanted blush palettes to launch with the new NARSissist Wanted Power Pack Lip Kits. It comes with six 0.13-oz. pans of powder blush, which are just sliiiightly smaller than regular full-size 0.16-oz. NARS blush pans.
Four of them are mattes, and two are shimmers.

nars narsissist wanted 1 swatches — Unlimited, Buzzed, Notorious, Kingpin, Bumpy Ride and Crave

Now for the really good news: 🙂 Only one of the shades is a re-promote — shimmery candy pink Bumpy Ride. The other five colors are LE.

Of the two Wanted Cheek Palettes, this one, v. 1, is the lighter option, and while its raison d’être is to kiss the cheeks of lasses with light and medium skin tones, I also like it for brown skin because it’s so easy to wear, on account of the mid-toned shades, which means that I can apply them half-asleep using a regular blush brush… Because they don’t look too intense or deep on me, I don’t have to overthink the application.

nars narsissist wanted palettes — Wanted 1 and 2 with my t-rex claw for scale

NARS gets REALLY high marks from me for the mattes, which have had their powder grains whittled down to almost microscopic size, so the blushes look like someone painted pure color on my cheeks. No powdery residue at all! They’re all beautiful on bare skin, too, but matte coral Buzzed and matte rose Kingpin are my faves. I think they’re the most wearable of the six shades.

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The NARS NARSissist Wanted Power Pack Lip Kit in Hot Reds

March 13th, 2018 by Karen 15 Comments

nars wanted power pack lip kit hot reds — $26 for two 0.09-oz. mini NARS Powermattes

When my friend/red lipstick kindred spirit Alis cuts my hair and we get to talking about red lipstick, girl, time ceases to exist. I’m not kidding, seasons will change! We’ll spend 15 minutes deconstructing minute details, like the differences between NARS Red Square and NARS Dragon ~~Roll~~ Girl, or MAC Russian Red and MAC Red. She’s that person in my life!

She’s precisely the kind of makeup lover the new NARS NARSissist Wanted Power Pack Lip Kit in Hot Red was made for, because, at first glance, both of the red liquid lipsticks in it probably look more or less the same to most peeps — but they definitely do NOT look the same to members of #teamredlips like Alis. If you’re a red lippie lover, you probably already noticed that Cherry Bomb is cooler and bluer than Don’t Stop, which is warmer and yellower.

Really, they’re totally different!

nars cherry bomb dont stop powermatte swatches — Cherry Bomb (new, limited edition) and Don’t Stop (a re-promote from the permanent line)

The $26 kit, one of three (the others are Warm Nudes and Cool Nudes), is coming March 18th to Ulta. Each one contains two mini liquid lipsticks from the groundbreaking NARS Powermatte liquid lipstick line.

Only thing is, these diminutive versions leave my lips feeling noticeably drier than the NARS reds in the permanent collection. I rock those all the time without any issues…

nars dont stop lip swatch — Don’t Stop, a geranium red

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NARS NARSissist Wanted Power Pack Lip Kit in Cool Nudes: 3 Things to Know

March 13th, 2018 by Karen 10 Comments

nars wanted power pack lip kit cool nudes — $26 for two NARS Powermatte minis

Awww…freak out!

(Le freak, c’est chic!)

FREAK OUT!

If you listen to disco, you know that your booty is guaranteed to start shaking whenever this song plays.

Le Freak, by the way, is also the name of one of the liquid lipsticks in the new $26 NARS NARSissist Wanted Power Pack Lip Kit in Cool Nude, which is coming exclusively to Ulta very soon — March 18th!

nars le freak lip swatch — Le Freak, a matte pale pink

Cool Nudes is one of three new liquid lip kits from NARS, and each comes with two cute Powermatte Pigment minis. One of the shades is a re-promoted shade from the permanent line (American Woman), and the other, Le Freak, is a new limited edition pale pink.

nars le freak american woman swatches — Le Freak (a new LE shade) and American Woman (a re-promoted shade from the permanent collection)

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MAC Padma Lakshmi Collection: 5 Things to Know About the Lipsticks and Cremesheen Glass

March 12th, 2018 by Karen 23 Comments

mac padma lakshmi collection lipsticks — MAC Padma Lakshmi collection Lipsticks from the left: Susnet Rose, Apricot Gold, Nude Fudge, Mittain Pink, Blue Blood and Sumac, $17.50 each

“Tabs…YOU ARE TOP CHEF!”

LOL! Wouldn’t that be a hoot? — Padma Lakshmi congratulating Tabs on his award-winning final meal on Top Chef.

I mean, even considering that he’s a cat, chances are Tabs would win Top Chef before I did because I don’t have that special something. Sure, I can follow a recipe, but I’m no wonder in the kitchen.

I do, however, have strong opinions on ? lipstick. ? If that counts for anything.

Regardless…

1. There’s a lotta lipstick in the MAC Padma Lakshmi collection!

The 17-piece release, which is coming to MAC counters Thursday, March 15th, has been released early online. It includes six lipsticks ($17.50 each) and a Cremesheen Glass ($21, which is an online exclusive). Four of the lippies are MAC Mattes, one is an Amplified, and one is a Cremesheen. Oh, and the Cremesheen Glass is glossy, of course.

2. The nude lipsticks are a go, ESPECIALLY for tan temptresses and darker divas.

If you have a toasty tan, you know how some nude lipsticks can be, right? Particularly pale pink and pale beige lipsticks? How some will wash you out? Well, I think you’ll have better luck with Padma’s lipsticks. The nudes in this launch are rooted in peach and brown, and they’re deeper than usual for pastel nude lipsticks. They’re generally very pigmented and overall brown-girl friendly.

mac sunset rose lipstick — Cremesheen Lipstick in Sunset Rose, a creamy brown with pearl

mac apricot gold lipstick — Amplified Lipstick in Apricot Gold, a mid-tone peachy nude

mac nude fudge lipstick — Matte Lipstick in Nude Fudge, a mid-tone neutral

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering why pale pink or beige nude lipsticks look wonky or weird on you, check out Padma’s collection if you can, because the nudes should work well with most darker skin tones.

My favorites of the six lipsticks are Sunset Rose and Nude Fudge. Mid-toned peachy brown Sunset Rose has a ’90s feel to it, but if you don’t like the brown matte look, you can always slick a little gloss on top.

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Makeup and Beauty Blog Monday Poll, Vol. 515

March 12th, 2018 by Karen 17 Comments

So…what is the Monday Poll?

Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past 11 (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine.

1. What makes you a strong person?

I think I’m a pretty strong person, just because when I’m on, I can take on a lot of things, like tasks and emotional things, but my strength can be very up or down, if I’m honest. I wish I could say that I’m a strong @ss kicker all the time, but I definitely have my moments when I have to lean on other people, like my friends, my family and my cat…although every single time I cry to Tabs, he looks sympathetic for maybe 30 seconds, and then I get the sense that he just wants me to feed him…

Basically, he’s only there for the snacks.

2. What are the parts you rush through when you’re doing your makeup?

These days, it doesn’t matter how much time I have to do my makeup, whether it’s five minutes, 15 minutes or half an hour (which would be a total luxury), I speed through my brows…because sh*t is boring, OK?

This wasn’t the case for me four years ago, when I would have meticulously filled them out with multiple products before using a concealer to carve out the bottom and the tail.

But now I’m just, like, throw that brow gel in. Move on with life. It’s all good.

I’ll also rush through lips most of the time, usually nude lips, just because they’re easy to do and easy to reapply, so I’ll do lipstick, gloss — BAM! BAM! — a few strokes, and that’s it.

But I will always take my time doing my foundation and concealer, because when I do rush through those things, it always ends up looking too thick and/or too spackly.

3. Last thing you bought and loved but probably didn’t need?

Funny you should ask :), because I wore it all weekend. It’s a khaki baseball cap I got from Target for $10 bucks.

It was raining on Saturday, and I’d done my hair, and I didn’t want the top to get all messed up, so I grabbed the cap and wore it all weekend long.

I think it’s cute, and I like the way it fits my head and keeps it warm. Most importantly, it keeps the rain off my face.

4. Unicorns or mermaids?

Unicorns ? , because if I had a mythical creature friend, we’d be able to hang out more.

With mermaids, though, you basically have to go to their house all the time… It’s always a thing. They can never come to your house. 🙂

5. What’s something nice someone did for you recently?

On Sunday morning, El Hub surprised me with a box of flaky, buttery croissant from Rustic Bakery for the next few days. Two Meyer lemon, one apple (my favorite) and a ham and cheese.

It was a great way to start the day. 🙂

Happy Monday

Oh hi there, first Monday morning laugh! Last night I preloaded my coffee pot thinking that all I’d have to do in the morning was hit a button for fresh, hot coffee, buuuuut turns out I totally forgot to put the actual coffee grounds into the pot. Whoops! Like I filled it up with water, put the filter in, but didn’t put the coffee in. The funny thing is I was standing next to the coffee pot the whole time as it was brewing, but didn’t realize that all it was making was hot water until it was done. Oh well! At least it was good for a giggle.

Hope you’ve managed to laugh a little this morning!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste with your answers in a comment:

1. What makes you a strong person?
2. What are the parts you rush through when you’re doing your makeup?
3. Last thing you bought and loved but probably didn’t need?
4. Unicorns or mermaids?
5. What’s something nice someone did for you recently?