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Benefit’s New Tinted Lip Balms in Lollibalm, Chachabalm, Posiebalm and Benebalm Go Easy on the Tint, Heavy on the Moisture

May 27th, 2014 by Karen 25 Comments

Benefit Lollibalm Tinted Lip Balm — Lollibalm, one of four new Benefit Tinted Lip Balms available now

Granted, there’s not a dramatic, in-your-face difference among the four shades in Benefit’s new collection of Tinted Lip Balms ($18 each) when I wear them on my lips, but ooh! — they just look so darn cute chillin’ in my makeup bag.

Benefit Tinted Lip Balms — They each have their own personal outfit…

And every. Single. Time. I’ve taken out Chachabalm, Lollibalm, Posiebalm or Benebalm for a touch-up (which I have to do about every hour or so when I wear them) within sight of a gal, I’ve been asked something along the lines of, “Where did ya get that?! It’s adorable!”

So, yeah, fellow packaging suckers, that’s the sign of an eye-catching product. 🙂

Benefit introduced these hydrating lip balms earlier this spring in colors to match their liquid blushes in Cha Cha Tint, Lollitint, Posie Tint and Benetint.

They feel a lot like the Revlon Lip Butters and Dior’s Addict Lip Balms to me — smooth, non-sticky, and firmly on the thicker formula side, as far as lip balms go. My nose and taste buds also detect a mild violet hard candy flavor and scent.

Thumbs up for mega moisture, too, as these are loaded with the stuff, and my dry, flaky lips lap it up.

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Space NK, Future Home of the New NUDESTIX Makeup Line, Coming This June

May 27th, 2014 by Karen 19 Comments

All black errrrthing!

So, yeah. I mostly wanted to try the new NUDESTIX makeup line because of the black pencil packaging.

I mean, come on. Black is sleek, chic and never goes out of style. Plus, what’s not to like about easy-to-use pencil packaging? Anything with the potential to free up my schedule for more REM sleep gets automatic cool points just for that.

Coming exclusively to Space NK stores and spacenk.com this June, the new NUDESTIX makeup brand of neutral-toned makeup for eyes, lips, cheeks and skin already has my makeup-loving heart’s attention.

The brainchild (I’ve always wanted to use that word in a sentence, “brainchild,” LOL!) of CoverFX co-creator and former MAC product developer Jenny Frankel, who left Cover FX in 2011 to start the new brand, NUDESTIX is debuting with a 30-piece collection…

The entire (as of now) NUDESTIX collection

Lash Lengthening Mascara, $24
Eye Pencils in Cream, Shimmer, Stardust, Golden, Bronze, Burnish, Pewter and Smoke, $24 each
Magnetic Eye Color Pencils in Night, Angel, Twilight and Moon, $24 each
Skin Concealer Pencils in Light 1, Light 2, Light 3, Medium 4, Medium 5, Medium 6, Deep 7 and Deep 8, $24 each
Lip & Cheek Pencils in Whisper, Love, Blush, Mystic, Ripe, Soul, Sin and Flesh, $24 each
Pencil Cap Sharpener, $5

Jenny worked with her two daughters, both aspiring models, to create the new line of natural-looking, easy-to-apply products — products designed to be easy enough to apply without separate brushes.

After giving all five product families a try over the long holiday weekend, here are some thoughts…

The Eye Pencil Crayons in Stardust and Burnish

Burnish and Stardust burnish some serious multitasking muscle. These Eye Pencil Crayons do werk!

What kind of work, you ask? Well, you can line your eyes with them, use them on your lids as eyeshadows, and/or use them as highlighters, applying them on the high points of the face, which, by the way, is my favorite way to use them.

I’ll swipe either one, shimmery golden peach Stardust or bronzy golden Burnish, on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, and a little on my Cupid’s bow, and then blend.

Great for glow on the go without having to fuss with a brush.

As for using them in other ways, like as shadows and liners, I don’t do that as much. When I use them as liners, my super sensitive water lines freak out a little, and both colors crease (a lot) on my lids when I use them as shadows.

Like, a lot. Within 10-15 minutes of applying.

And I’ve tried them with and without primer at different levels of coverage.

Maybe they just don’t particularly like my combination oily/dry lids.

That said, though, the finish on these is absolutely gorgeous. When I wear them as shadow, my lids look totally rockstar chick — all glowing, shiny and distinct. If you like rebellious, undone eye looks, give these a try when you can.

Magnetic Eye Color Pencil in Night

Super dark and black as night, matte black Night Magnetic Eye Color Pencil works as a liner, an eyeshadow and/or an eyeshadow primer.

Supposedly designed for oily lids, I dunno…this one also tends to start creasing on my lids within 15 minutes of applying. My water lines do seem to prefer the Magnetic Eye Color formula over the Eye Pencil Crayons, though, where it last 4-5 hours.

The Lip & Cheek Pencil in Blush

This creamy peachy rose has a satin finish and doubles as a blush and lipstick.

As a lip pencil, this one’s got it goin’ on. I think it tastes a little waxy at first, but it subsides within about 10 minutes, and the semi-sheer, lip flake-friendly coverage looks gloriously natural.

Now, as a blush, we’re talking super sheer — barely there — and, you know, when I wear blush, I kind of like to see it on my cheeks, but if you’re a lighter lass looking for the ultimate no-makeup makeup look, check it out.

Skin Concealer Pencil in Deep 7

This shade is probably closer to my skin tone around the end of summer, after I’ve picked up a shade or two, but I’ve tried it both on my face and under my eyes.

Definitely easy to blend, it also starts scooting around after about an hour.

NUDESTIX Swatches from the left: Magnetic Eye Color Pencil in Night, Eye Pencil Crayon in Burnish, Eye Pencil Crayon in Stardust, Skin Concealer Pencil in Deep 7, and the Lip and Cheek Pencil in Blush — From the left: Magnetic Eye Color Pencil in Night, Eye Pencil Crayon in Burnish, Eye Pencil Crayon in Stardust, Skin Concealer Pencil in Deep 7 and Lip and Cheek Pencil in Blush

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Sweet! It’s the Bobbi Brown Raw Sugar Collection for Summer 2014

May 21st, 2014 by Karen 8 Comments

Raw Sugar.

I like the sound of that. 🙂 Sweet but tough. Plus, hello, sugar.

It’s the name of Bobbi Brown’s summer collection, which reminds me, I just finished a huge Rice Krispie treat for dessert, and it was hella good, but I digress…

It’s summer makeup for Bobbi Brown minimalists, with bronzers, lip tints, nail polishes, a Beach perfume and body oil, and a shimmer brick of neutral eyeshadows.

I’m most excited about the perfume, truth be told. Bobbi Brown Beach symbolizes summer to me, and I never get tired of it.

As for the rest of the collection, well… The colors in the eyeshadow shimmer brick are so similar that I’m pretty sure they’ll look more or less the same on me, and the bronzers and lip balms don’t particularly excite me, either.

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The MAC Pedro Lourenco Collection for Summer 2014: Classic Cosmetics for a Far-Future Catwalk

May 21st, 2014 by Karen 43 Comments

What struck me first was the packaging. The black against the gold. It pulled me in like a tractor beam. Classic and edgy at the same time, a la Blade Runner, which is a style I aspire to achieve, on occasion.

The black cases are different than usual for MAC and have this rubbery texture, so they’re kind of NARS-y, and that coupled with the makeup — the nude eyes, cheeks and bright red lips — add up to a recipe for instant makeup lust.

There are definitely things here I’ll wear, and actually, a lot of them are pieces I already wear. The new quad has two of my long-time favorite MAC eyeshadows, Sable and All That Glitters, and the Cream Colour Base is a re-promoted shade called Hush, which I absolutely love.

The new MAC Pedro Lourenco collection (not shown: the Nail Lacquers in Skin and Rlaming Rose)

A couple of the lipsticks also look like classic MAC shades I wear all the time, like True Red, which looks a little like Lady Danger but has an Amplified finish instead of a Matte, so it has that shine. And Ruby is kind of like Russian Red, but with the Amplified finish instead of the Matte.

So, I don’t really think the release shatters new ground. The edgiest pieces here are probably the Lipglasses, which are these sort of weird metallic colors like Gold Mirror, a neutral gold, and Mirror, a neutral silver, both of which, I think, seem very indicative of Pedro’s sometimes sci-fi style, from what I’ve seen of his work.

I tell you what, though — if I were a robot, I’d be all over those Lipglasses in two ticks of an animatronic heartbeat, beep-beep!

MAC Pedro Lourenco Collection Amplified Lipsticks — Pedro Lourenco Amplified Lipsticks, $17.50 each

MAC Pedro Lourenco Amplified Lipstick in Peach Beige — Amplified Lipstick in Peach Beige, a light pinkish nude

MAC Pedro Lourenco Amplified Lipstick in Ruby — Amplified Lipstick in Ruby, a mid-tone blueish red

MAC Pedro Lourenco in Amplified Lipstick in Roxo — Amplified Lipstick in Roxo, a deep red

MAC Pedro Lourenco Amplified Lipstick in True Red — Amplified Lipstick in True Red, a vivid bright coral

MAC Pedro Lourenco Lipglass in Mirror (top) and Gold Mirror (bottom) — Lipglass in Mirror (top, a neutral silver) and Gold Mirror (bottom, neutral gold), $16.50 each

I was so stoked about the Corol Blush Duo before seeing it in person. It’s the big compact with the black matte packaging and Pedro’s name across the front. But then I tried it on, and it really wasn’t working for me. The powder’s extremely hard and difficult to pick up with a brush or finger. When I did these swatches, I actually had to chip away at the powder with a fingernail to free up some product.

But other than the Duo, I like the collection. I think there’s something cooly futuristic and classic about it at the same time, like something you’d see in a sci-fi movie starring Milla Jovovich as the main character, and her eyes would be shining with the sparkling nude and bronze and rosy tones.

I can see it now… She’s walking down a dusty, decaying urban alley between tall, grimy buildings holding an oversized plasma gun. Her cheeks are highlighted and glowing, and her lips are bright red. 🙂

Beautiful and accessible, with an edge — that’s how I see this collection. If you have a friend you’ve wanted to convert into a MAC fan, this is the collection where you hold her hand and guide her into the light.

Let me know what you think.

MAC Pedro Lourenco Nude Quad — Nude Quad, $17.50

MAC Pedro Lourenco Cream Colour Base in Hush — Cream Colour Base in Hush, $22

MAC Pedro Lourenco Powder Blush Duo in Corol — Powder Blush Duo in Corol, $26

MAC Pedro Lourenco Nude Quad Swatches — Nude Quad

MAC Pedro Lourenco Lipstick Swatches — From the left: Amplified Lipsticks in Peach Beige, Ruby, Roxo and True Red

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The MAC Sharon & Kelly Osbourne Collection for Summer 2014: Kelly’s Eyes and Cheeks

May 20th, 2014 by Karen 24 Comments

MAC Sharon and Kelly Osbourne collection — Wearing makeup from the MAC Sharon & Kelly Osbourne Collection Kelly sub-collection on my eyes, cheeks and lips

Things I know about Kelly Osbourne…

I saw her guest host a fashion show once (I think it was with Joan Rivers), and she seemed very sassy, like a regular sassy-pants girl.
She appears to be funny and good at banter.
I know that the purple hair she’s rocking these days is totally working for her in a cool, Dorothy Zbornak kind of way, and it makes me want purple hair…but I figure that I’m just going to wait for my hair to turn gray first, and then I’ll take it from there.
I’ve read that she has a penchant for, um, colorful language.
I know that she’s Ozzy Osbourne’s daughter, and that makes me wonder what Halloweens at their house were like, and what she’s getting him for Father’s Day (maybe one of the her MAC Kelly Osbourne eyeliners, perhaps?).
I know that she has a reputation for being edgy and fashionable, and I can see that edge in her products from the MAC Sharon & Kelly Osbourne collection.

MAC Kelly Osbourne Collection — The MAC Sharon & Kelly Osbourne Kelly sub-collection products (not including the two brushes)

Strutting down the runway first are the eyeshadows, eyeliners, and cheek and face products from the Kelly sub-collection of the mother-daughter MAC Sharon & Kelly Osbourne collection for summer 2014 (stay tuned for the four lipsticks and single lip liner in a few).

Like ice is to fire, these are cool! — as in cooler-toned than the colors in momma Sharon’s part of the release.

I get the sense that Kelly is a long-time MAC fan, since some of the re-promoted pieces, and there are a few, are products I love, too, like Smolder, Soba and Brun. The two eyeliners, and the eyeshadows in the duo, as well as one of the shadows in the quad, are re-promotes.

See the purple packaging? It’s like Kelly’s hair, and her signature graces each of the pieces.

Nice handwriting, by the way. 🙂 I like how she writes her ‘K.’

The MAC Kelly Osbourne Bloody Brilliant Quad and Morning Mister Magpie Eye Shadow Duo

Good Morning Mister Magpie! I see that your duo has two re-promoted shadows (Soba and Brun).

Except that these versions look a little odd to me…

Not in a bad way. Just different.

I mean, I know both of these bad boys like the back of my hand (Get it? Bad swatch pun…) because I wear them a ton. Soba is one of my everyday neutral browns, and I use Brun to fill in my brows every single day.

But the Soba here seems more golden to me than the Soba I know, like it’s Soba’s second cousin or something. Brun looks a little different, too, but only in its pan, where I swear it looks gray.

Weirdly, it swatches the same.

The Bloody Brilliant Quad also has a re-promoted product of its own — Shadowy Lady (a matte blackened plum).

Based on Kelly’s eyes in the promo pic, I was hoping for a bloody brilliant purple in the quad, or maybe a bloody brilliant coral, because her eyes look bad-@ss! It looks like there’s a warm coral in the crease and a bright, intense purple along her lower lash line, and when I saw that pic, I thought, “Yes! I want to go to there.”

But after playing with the quad this week, I don’t know… I just wanted more intensity. Maybe it’s because of our different skin tones, but I feel like the quad’s colors don’t look as good on me as they do on Kelly in the promo pic.

Also, there’s the way the shadows feel. Compared to the shadows in Sharon’s quad, these feel slightly harder to me and are consequently a little tougher to blend. Not sure why.

MAC Kelly Osbourne Bloody Brilliant Quad — Bloody Brilliant Quad, with Tickety Boo (a soft muted plummy brown with a Satin finish), Fizzy Rose (a pale lilac with a Satin finish), Spoonful of Sugar (a sparkling platinum with a Veluxe Pearl finish) and Shadowy Lady (a blackened plum with a matte finish), $44

MAC Kelly Osbourne in Morning Mister Magpie — Morning Mister Magpie, with Soba (a soft taupe with a Satin finish) and Brun (a dark brown with a Satin finish), $22

MAC Kelly Osbourne Morning Mister Magpie — Morning Mister Magpie

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The MAC Sharon & Kelly Osbourne Collection for Summer 2014: Sharon’s Eyes & Cheeks

May 20th, 2014 by Karen 52 Comments

Well, you know what they say — mother knows best (says the girl who always argues with her mom!), and in the case of the new MAC Sharon & Kelly Osbourne collection for summer 2014, she even gets top billing.

I gotta be honest with you — I don’t know much about the Osbournes.

I mean, I know that Sharon has a TV talk show (I think), and I’ve seen Kelly commenting about fashion on a couple of style shows. I also know that the whole family had a reality TV show, although I never caught it.

And then there’s the whole thing about papa Ozzy, whom I know a little something about, like that he wore makeup when he performed (yay!) and, um, decapitated small winged mammals on stage (boo!).

MAC Sharon Osbourne collection — The MAC Sharon & Kelly Osbourne Sharon sub-collection products (not including the two brushes)

But other than that, I was kind of in the dark about the Osbournes when I first heard about this release.

I just knew that I liked the idea of a mother-daughter MAC collection.

In fact, I actually think my mom, who is not a makeup person AT ALL (I’ve been slowly trying to show her the light…for the past 20 years), is going to really like the Sharon eye and cheek products (the collection is divided into two sub-collections with different limited edition packaging) in this post here.

Stay tuned for the Sharon lip products and Kelly half of the collection a little later today.

The MAC Sharon Osbourne Duchess Quad and Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Bountiful Brown

If you love colors like MAC Teddy Eye Kohl, or like any sort of warm reddish brown or warm orangey brown, you’re gonna love this warmish neutral eyeshadow quad with its hints of golden and reddish brown and bronze.

As for the eye pencil, Bountiful Brown, it’s off the chain! If you buff out this bronzy golden brown you get golden sparkle — but here’s the thing: it’s not new. You can get it right meow because it resides in the permanent collection.

I’ll be wearing both of these with my MAC warm brown faves, like MAC Texture Eye Shadow, Soft Brown and Costa Riche Eye Kohl. 🙂

MAC Sharon Osbourne Duchess Quad — Duchess Quad, with Femme Fatale (a golden brown in a Satin finish), Embark (a dark reddish brown with a Matte finish), Sexy Eyes (a soft, warm bronze with a Veluxe Pearl finish) and Sweet Eyes (a light golden nude with a Veluxe Pearl finish), $44

MAC Sharon Osbourne Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Bountiful Brown — Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Bountiful Brown, a bronze-rinsed brown, $17.50

MAC Sharon Osbourne Duchess Quad Swatch — Duchess Quad

MAC Sharon Osbourne Bountiful Brown Swatch — Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Bountiful Brown

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Sparkle Like Whoa! It’s the Seven New 3D Glitters From MAC

May 13th, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

I mean, let’s be real here. Unless you regularly strut your stuff down a runway in Milan or bust your best moves in a Fiat commercial a la J. Lo, who can make booty shorts and glitter look totally legit on a sidewalk at 10 a.m. on a rand-o Tuesday afternoon, glitter isn’t always the easiest thing to pull off.

Don’t get me wrong — I love the sparkly stuff, but because I wear it so often for the blog, sometimes I feel like I look like an extra in the upcoming Jem and the Holograms movie.

Truly outrageous!

Yup, whatcha gonna do? 🙂

I think glitter is tons of fun, and if you do, too, you might want to direct your mouse to maccosmetics.com, where the seven new 3D Glitters ($21 each) are sparkling now.

These holographic hotties have hexagonal, multicolored glitter flecks that put on a sparkly rainbow show.

MAC 3D Silver Glitter — 3D Silver Glitter

MAC 3D Lavender Glitter — 3D Lavender Glitter

MAC 3D Pale Mint Glitter — 3D Pale Mint Glitter

MAC 3D Platinum Glitter — 3D Platinum Glitter

MAC 3D Glitter Swatches from the left: 3D Black, 3D Brass Gold and 3D Lavender — Swatches from the left: 3D Black, 3D Brass Gold and 3D Lavender

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From the MAC Lorde Collection, Pure Heroine Lipstick and Penultimate Eye Liner in Rapidblack

May 12th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

MAC Pure Heroine Lipstick — Wearing Pure Heroine Lipstick and Rapidblack Penultimate Eye Liner from the new MAC Lorde collection

Erhm, seeing as how this plummy number I’m wearing on my lips is from the new MAC Lorde collection, I probably should’ve been listening to Lorde while I was taking these pics.

But I wasn’t.

I was actually bumping The Cure’s In Between Days.

I can see it now — Lorde and I hanging out, listening to Robert Smith and shooting the sh*t as we swap out the laces on our Doc Martins.

You can see it too, right? 🙂

This scenario is much more likely than, oh, I dunno, hanging out with Lorde while listening to Taylor Swift songs and practicing our cheerleading moves.

Call me crazy.

Pure Heroine Lipstick is part of the tiny two-piece MAC Lorde collection, a limited release release coming June 5 to maccosmetics.com and the MAC Times Square and Fifth Avenue stores in NYC (international babes, you’ll be seeing it online in July and at the MAC Champs-Élysées store in Paris), and it has MAC’s Amplified formula, which means smoooooth, intense, long-lasting color (between 6-8 hours, no joke!).

Some of my favorite MAC lippies are MAC Amplified family members, so I always get really excited when MAC releases a new shade.

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