Makeup

What’s Nude From bareMinerals? The New Gen Nude Lipsticks, Lipglosses and Lip Liners

August 3rd, 2016 by Karen 14 Comments

bareminerals gen nude — Some lusicous lip treats from the new bareMinerals Gen Nude collection

Unsolicited advice of the day
Next time someone asks you to send them some nudes…

Keep your clothes on (generally, this seems to be a good idea).
Send them a pic of the new bareMinerals Gen Nudes lipsticks, lipglosses and liners instead. It’ll be hilarious, I tell ya (well, at least you and I will be laughing, hahaha!).

This one’s a MASSIVE 60-piece lippie release of products bound for the bareMinerals permanent line, including 20 Matte Liquid Lipcolors ($18 each), 20 Radiant Lipsticks ($20 each), 15 Buttercream Lipglosses ($18 each) and 5 Under Over Lip Liners ($16 each) in a bashful-busting array of nude mauve, pink, peach and beige shades.

That’s A LOT of lip nudity, and even if you’ve never found your perfect nude pout before, you might find it here.

bareminerals gen nude buttercream lipgloss — bareMinerals Gen Nude Buttercream Lipglosses in Snarky, Popular and Far Out ($18 each)

The non-sticky, moderately moisturizing bareMinerals Buttercream Lipglosses feel heavenly on my lips, but I could have done without the Red Vines aroma (I’m not a licorice fan) or the faintly plastic flavor, which brings back major memories of the old-school NARS glosses, but both the fragrance and flavor fade quickly, so I can deal.

bareminerals gen nude lip liner on point — bareMinerals Gen Nude Under Over Lip Liner in On Point ($16)

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NARS, You’re a Peach for Introducing 6 New Shades of Radiant Creamy Concealer

August 3rd, 2016 by Karen 14 Comments

I like eating peaches…and I like wearing peach-toned under-eye concealer.

What does this have to do with NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer?

Well, the whole “eating peaches” bit has absolutely nothing to do with it. I’m just super obsessed with peaches right now, and I got a huge box from Trader Joe’s last week, so I’ve been in peach heaven.

But the thing about peach-toned concealer is marginally related, because NARS just added six new Radiant Creamy Concealer shades to the line, and a couple of them have peachy undertones, woo-hoo!

Back when NARS first released their creamy, full-coverage Radiant Creamy Concealers, it shook up the makeup world. A lot of peeps fell in love (myself included), because of how good they were/are at doing so many things.

And they completely cover everything.

EVERY. FRICKIN’. THING.

Yet somehow still look natural.

nars radiant creamy concealer swatches 1 — From the left, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly, Vanilla, Creme Brulee (NEW) and Canelle (NEW)

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Creamy, Coco-Nutty Full-Coverage Too Faced Born This Way Concealer

August 2nd, 2016 by Karen 17 Comments

Apparently, my mind is in the gutter, because for the longest time I mistakenly thought that this Too Faced concealer was actually named Better Than Sex Concealer, and not Born This Way Concealer, HAHA!

And, of course, because of that, I thought, “How can a concealer be better than sex? I don’t even know… Then again, a good concealer can be pretty darned orgasmic…” LOL! Yeah. Dirty birdy.

Born This Way, which came out early this summer, is $28 and available in 10 shades.

Like some other Too Faced products, it contains skin-friendly ingredients, like coconut water (it has a very faint coconut scent too) and hyaluronic acid, which, Too Faced says, makes it more moisturizing and helps promote a smoother, more youthful appearance.

Truth be told…I can never tell for sure if skincare ingredients make much of a difference when they show up in my makeup, but homegirl does need all the help she can get.

Born This Way is a full-coverage concealer and feels like a fluffy mousse. Right off the bat, the consistency, the smoothing formula and the coverage remind me of NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, which was my errrything for many years, and I still love it.

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Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipstick Lip Swatches

August 1st, 2016 by Karen 45 Comments

make up for ever artist rouge m100 — Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipstick in M100

This is what happens sometimes when you can’t figure out what lipstick to wear with your eye makeup. It starts out with you trying to find one of the new Make up For Ever Rouge Artist Lipsticks that won’t clash with your eye makeup but turns into a full-on swatch fest.

make up for ever artist rouge c601 — Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipstick in C601

I did figure out that M100 and M202 make me want to drop down to my knees and thank the universe for lipstick. ?

I LOVE those two.

Oh, by the way, I’m also wearing quite a few new products in these pics that were released for fall this year. The eyeliner is bright blue Urban Decay Razor Sharp Liquid Eyeliner in Chaos, which I layered on top of Too Faced Sketch Marker in Mermaids Don’t Cry (a matte medium blue) and Too Glam to Give a Damn (a matte navy).

And that’s Tarte Naughty Nude Blush in Seduce on my cheeks, and the foundation I’m wearing is the new Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick in Beige.

make up for ever artist rouge c503 — Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipstick in C503

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Make Up For Ever Redid The Artist Rouge Lipsticks, AND THEY’RE FABULOUS

July 29th, 2016 by Karen 14 Comments

make up for ever artist rouge lipstick — The Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipsticks are getting a sequel next month

First things first, my friend — happy National Lipstick Day! 🙂

(As if we needed another reason to love lipstick.)

Second, that mint green, though…

We live in extraordinary times. Not only can we roll up to a Sephora and buy a magnificent mint green lipstick like the one in the newly reformulated, repackaged (but still extensive at 45 shades) Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Lipstick line, but today’s lipsticks just keep getting better and better.

Shout-out to the cosmetics chemists out there doing the damn thing to bring beauty lovers like you and me lipsticks that, not only last longer on our lips, but also pack more pigment into a creamier, more comfortable formula than their predecessors.

That’s the case with the Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Lipstick line, which relaunched online this month (and arrives at Sephora stores in August) with a new formula and a new outfit.

The line of 14 mattes (not including a couple of limited edition shades) and 31 creams encompases a rainbow of colors — 45 shades in all — from reds, pinks, berries and nudes to edgier offerings like blue, lilac, black and, yes, cray-cray green.

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The Tarte Naughty Nudes Blushes Are Taking Me Back to the ’90s

July 28th, 2016 by Karen 20 Comments

Badly behaved blushes, FTW!

Let’s get into some mischief with the new Fall 2016 Tarte Naughty Nudes blushes, shall we? Because, c’mon, if they’d been named the “Well-Behaved Nudes,” it would have sounded like a snooze-fest. Plus, what’s the point of being nude if you can’t also be naughty, hello?!

I swear on my plaid pleated mini skirt, my favorite flannel, my Timbs *and* my hoop earring with the key dangling from it that these four new fall shades of Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush ($28) are channeling so much ’90s realness!

Throughout much of that decade, I wore matte blushes in similar colors to these subtle shades of peach and pink.

tarte naughty nudes amazonian clay — The $28 Tarte Fall 2016 Naughty Nudes Amazonian Clay Blushes (the four shades on the far left), and a new $28 Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Highlighter (far right)

Nude pink Exposed, golden nude Sensual, rosy nude Seduce and peachy nude Risque remind me of the color of bare lips when they don’t have any product on them…except captured and placed in a pan.

I like wearing them with a sheer tinted moisturizer for a no-makeup makeup look, and my favorite one is Seduce because it matches the color of my bare lips.

For some reason, matching bare lips with a nude blush really seems to work…

Anywho, I like that it’s sheer and takes zero effort to blend. I also like that the Amazonian clay formula hangs in there for about 10 hours on my combo skin.

tarte naughty nude blush swatches — Tarte Naughty Nudes from the left in Seduce, Risque, Sensual and Exposed

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My Favorite Face Products From The Estée Edit for Quick, Cute and Casual Makeup

July 28th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

estee edit flash illuminator — Keeping it casual with The Estée Edit Flash Illuminators ($28)

Five-minute makeup with The Estée Edit? Heck, yeah!

I love a carved out cat eye, and ooh! — sparkles. I also love sparkles, but I don’t feel like wearing them every day.

Some days, like today, barely-there five-minute makeup just hits the spot. It’s barely 9 a.m. here, and it’s already above 80. I’m sitting in front of my Beyoncé fan, and I still feel hot.

When it’s hot like this, I’m not gonna wear a ton of makeup, and I won’t spend a lot of time on it either, but I still want to look like I’m trying, you know what I’m saying?

Easy, fast and casual makeup today with products from The Estee Edit — Quick and casual makeup today with products from The Estée Edit

The still fairly new Estée Edit line (available at Sephora) is a good fit for how I’m currently feeling. It has that unfussy, fresh and youthful “just throw on your favorite white tee, jeans shorts and Chucks” vibe to it.

If Connor were of age and wanted to start wearing makeup like this, I could get behind it. It’s sheer and casual — stuff that you can put on with your fingers and don’t have to fuss much with.

Here are four of my favorite cute and casual products from the The Estée Edit line…

The Estée Edit Rescue Balm for Face and Body ($50)

estee edit rescue balm beam team — The Estée Edit Rescue Balm ($50) and Beam Team ($42)

My dry skin loves The Estée Edit Rescue Balm. It’s a super rich (and, unfortunately, also pricey) moisturizing balm — first and foremost, a moisturizer — and I apply it all over my face to prep the skin before applying the Skin Glowing Balm.

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The New Tarte Tartiest Naughty Nudes Creamy Matte Lip Paint Line, and Things I Did in the ’90s While Wearing Brown Lipstick

July 27th, 2016 by Karen 27 Comments

tarte tartiest lip paint naughty nudes — The new Fall 2016 Tarte Tartiest Creamy Matte Lip Paint Naughty Nudes line ($20 each)

Things I seemed to always be doing in the ’90s while wearing brown lipstick…

Running to the bus stop (I was always *that close* to missing the bus).
Standing awkwardly in the corner of the room at house parties with a red cup in my hand.
Checking my pager, which I kept in the front pocket of the jeans I got using my employee discount at Miller’s Outpost (OMG). And I thought I was hot sh*t because my pager was white, LOL!
Falling asleep in the library with my head in an open chemistry book and waking up covered in drool.
Going to Tower Records (but never actually buying anything).

I’m getting all the ’90s feels from the new liquid lippies in the Tarte Tartiest Creamy Matte Lip Paint Naughty Nudes line ($20 each, available in five shades).

These vegan full-coverage mattes glide across lips with an unscented, unflavored, cruelty-free formula, and they feel like soft mousse. Plus, unlike many of the liquid lipsticks out there now, they stay wet and maleable while you wear them, so they don’t dry all the way down.

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