Makeup

5 Great Gothy Glam Lipsticks for Fall

November 2nd, 2015 by Karen 34 Comments

5 gothy glam lipsticks — You can’t go wrong with one of these gorgeously gothy glam lipsticks this fall

“Luke, I am your father!”

Wha!? Who you talkin’ to? Ain’t no Luke here, buddy. My name is Karen, and this is my cat Tabs.

“JOIN THE DARK SIDE, LUKE!”

Man, you are cray, but OK. Sure, I’ll join the dark side…of lipstick! BOOM! What!? Surprise attack! Get him, Tabs! Attack his ankles!!

–END–

Yes, fellow fierce force users, dark, vampy plums and wines are giving me So. Much. Life. There are so many great gothy glam lip colors out there, and here are five fabulous ones for fall.

1. NARS Audacious Lipstick in Liv ($22)

Oh! I love Liv’s deep, satiny aubergine finish and rich, creamy formula. It livs (get it?) online and at NARS counters, where you can find it now for $22.

2. Dolce & Gabbana Matte Lipstick in Dolce Inferno ($37)

dolce gabbana dolce inferno — Dolce & Gabbana Dolce Inferno

I am burning up with love for $37 Dolce Inferno. It’s hands down one of my favorite deep, dark lippies around. A moody matte plum, it has the faintest essence of pearl that gives it a little kick.

For a dark lipstick, it’s also easy to apply. The smooth, opaque formula feels fairly thick, and it doesn’t slip and slide all over my lips when I apply it, which I do with a lip brush. You’ll find this hot ticket heating up Dolce & Gabbana counters now.

3. MAC Satin Lipstick in Cyber ($17)

My dry lips love MAC Cyber’s comfy, creamy formula. This dark, satiny plum is so creamy that it tends to scoot beyond my natural lip line, so I like to wear it with MAC Cyber World Lip Liner, because 1) the two products are like peas in a pod (the colors match very closely), and 2) the liner totally keeps Cyber under control.

Skynet approved! Look for it passing Turing tests now at MAC counters and online.
[Continue reading…]

An Affable Autumn Moody Monday Makeup Look for a Folksy Fall

November 2nd, 2015 by Karen 44 Comments

I wasn’t sure what to call this look… Moody Monday? Or Folksy Fall? How about Affable Autumn?

So I’m leaning toward a combination of all three — an Affable Autumn Moody Monday Makeup Look for a Folksy Fall — because it’s overcast and drizzling right now (it rained hard last night), and part of me definitely wants to be sitting by a warm fire under a flannel blanket while sipping a mug of hot cocoa, while another part of me wants to be walking around outside in the rain dressed in black from head to toe with my headphones on while listening to Joy Division.

Basically, I’m feelin’ it. 🙂

There are three main concepts at work in this cozy/moody Monday makeup look. First, it features a warm matte reddish brown smoky eye. Second, the edges of the winged liner have been blurred. And third, the dark matte plum lip.

It’s a lot of look, for sure, but I think it all goes well together, especially if the weather where you are is anything like the weather is here now. It’s like it just turned full-on fall last night!

Skipping the winged liner or leaving out the falsies would tone it down. Or, you could not line your lower water line with the black liner, and just leave your lower water line bare.

Of course, to go the other way completely and boost the drama, you could go more intense with the brows, or add a gloss on top of the plum lip, or use a gel or liquid liner, which would add even more oomph (I just used a black eyeshadow applied with a wet brush). Any of those tweaks would look super cool.

[Continue reading…]

PUR Eye Polish Cream Shadow: A Fast Formula for Lustrous Lids

October 28th, 2015 by Karen 35 Comments

Despite the probably Horror movie-influenced fact that the “Eye Polish” in PUR Eye Polish cream shadow makes me think of somebody spit-shining my eyeballs, these $26 cream shadows aren’t sinister at all.

They’re actually pretty darned rad!

I mentioned one of of the shades, shimmery, smoky golden olive Caviar in my gold and olive Fall-Tastic Face of the Day last week. Caviar is one of the six shades, all of which work great as bases, as primers for powder shadows or all by their lonesome as traditional cream shadows.

They vary in terms of shimmer, with some being more pearlescent and less metallic than others. Caviar clocks in at “glittery to the extreme.”

Among the other shades are bronzed opalescent Suede; shimmery, plummy fuchsia Velvet; shimmery champagne apricot Silk; pearlescent pale pink Satin and pearlescent champagne Cashmere.

Now, just because these come in little pots doesn’t mean they’re as dense as MAC Paint Pots or as spongy as the Chanel Illusion D’Ombres. They have an usual formula the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. It’s thinner than usual…almost like a liquid shadow, but not quite.

Picture a very thin, runny mousse.

And, yes, I suggest keeping yo’ digits on hand (HAHAHA, LAME PUN ALERT!), because the silicone applicator they come with? — almost useless. The few times I used it, the product went on patchy and uneven.

[Continue reading…]

Neat and New to Me: MAC Crème D’Nude Cremesheen Lipstick

October 28th, 2015 by Karen 26 Comments

mac creme d nude — MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Crème D’ Nude ($17)

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

Makeup rules are meant to be broken, but I still got mad love for the makeup law-abiding classics, like looks with bold smoky eyes and nude lips, which I blame, in part, on $17 MAC Crème D’Nude Cremsheen Lipstick.

Some makeup looks are like zombies, ya know? (Because it always comes back to zombies…) But I mean that figuratively this time. 🙂 Basically, they never stay out of style for long.

So while I’ll always love my fellow makeup rule-breakers, especially when you do that smoky eye-bold lip thing (keep workin’ that emerald green smoky eye with those glossy, opaque hot pink lips, hunty!), I still gotta have my classics.

Pale muted peachy beige Crème D’Nude totally understands that. It’ll make you want to strip down to your skivvies and run around the office screaming in ecstasy.

OK, maybe not…but it does flat-out rock. It’s full coverage, smooth, moisturizing, and its warm peachy tones keep me looking like I’m actually running a healthy 98.6°F temperature. By comparison, I can’t stand it when pale beige lippies make me look like I just crawled out of the ground like an extra in MJ’s Thriller video.

Hell no! That’s sooo not happening with Crème D’Nude.

[Continue reading…]

Quick Tip: Get Hotter Smoky Eyes With the Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows

October 27th, 2015 by Karen 25 Comments

urban decay zodiac — Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Zodiac ($21)

Here’s a quick way to take nighttime smoky eyes from “glam” to “Glam! Bam! Thank you, ma’am!”

Just do this: add glitter. 🙂

Yup! I know, right? What a huge shocker… After you finish doing your smoky eye, if you feel like full-on hot dayum drama, grab a glitter eyeshadow, and pop that ish on your lids.

The $21 Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadows are great for this.

[Continue reading…]

The BECCA Holiday 2015 Collection: It’s All About the Glow

October 27th, 2015 by Karen 28 Comments

Pop the champagne, homegirl! — and if you can do it with a sword, more power to you, because that would mean you’re only about two degrees away from Michonne-level bad-@ssery, and I’D BOW DOWN!

We have a totes legit reason to celebrate today. First, because it’s Tuesday, and Tuesdays are terrific. 🙂 And second, because BECCA has several sparkly, shimmery sets on deck for the holidays, and they’re all available now, so you can get dat glow on your cheeks in time for the office party. (For the record, if there will be karaoke involved, please know that it may take more than two glasses to turn you into Mariah Carey… Yes, I speak from firsthand experience.)

This year’s holiday collection includes three limited edition sets, and they’re all about the glow — in other words, skin highlighted to high heaven.

becca holiday 2015 champagne glow 1 — BECCA Holiday 2015 Champagne Glow Palette ($34)

If you’re a die-hard BECCA shimmer fan, you might want to get your paws on the $34 Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Champagne Glow Palette highlighter trio. It’s available now exclusively at Sephora and the Sephora website.

One of the three shades, pale linen Pearl, is a limited edition shade making its debut right here in this palette, while the other two — Champagne Pop, a soft gold with pinkish peach undertones (the shame shade BECCA released last fall with YouTuber Jaclyn Hill); and Blushed Copper, a warm copper with rose gold (also appeared earlier this year).

becca holiday 2015 champagne glow 2 — BECCA Holiday 2015 Champagne Glow Palette ($34)

[Continue reading…]

A Fall-Tastic Face of the Day With Gold, Olive, Burgundy and “JSS”

October 20th, 2015 by Karen 36 Comments

Random zombie-related transition…

I don’t know if you watch The Walking Dead, but oh, boy! — I hope you do, because it’s one of the best shows on television.

I think so. I mean…yeah, there’s zombies. But depending on how you feel about that. 🙂

It’s not just about the zombies, though. It’s also about people trying to survive after an apocalypse…but yeah, it’s definitely not a bright and polite British cooking show.

But it is great sci-fi/horror, and I like that. As well as British cooking shows. And Instagram cat videos.

The characters in The Walking Dead are faced with much more than zombies (like desperate, and very bad people). The zombies are just the backdrop to the struggle to survive after we’ve lost our modern conveniences. We watch them struggle with questions of morality and humanity, and I think it’s fascinating and frightening at the same time.

Anywho! The new season just started, along with a new season of The Talking Dead, which is the after show. They bring on actors who star in the show, people who work behind the scenes and celebrity super-fans who all just chat and wax philosophic about the last episode.

It’s a lot of fun! The last The Talking Dead episode starred TWD newcomer Katelyn Nacon, who plays Enid, a young teenage survivor, and Katelyn’s makeup on the after show was on friggin’ point!

She looked absolutely beautiful and very fall. I couldn’t stop staring at her eyes and lips the whole time! She was wearing a gorgeous warm brown matte color in her crease with golds and khakis on her lids and a glossy burgundy lip.

I couldn’t find a good picture of it online, but I still felt inspired to wear something similar today.

I turned to a few old-school faves like MAC Soft Brown and MAC Texture, which I used in the crease, then used MAC Shroom to highlight my brow bone and the inner corners, along with the ever-reliable MAC Powersurge along my lower lash line.

I also incorporated a couple of newer products, like the naughty-sounding BECCA Afterglow holiday palette ($39.50), which has three powder highlighters and Wild Honey and Flowerchild, two of my favorite BECCA blushes.

So I’m wearing Afterglow products on my cheeks and to highlight my skin.

[Continue reading…]

Try This Makeup Tip: Do Your Highlighting Before Contouring or Bronzing

October 19th, 2015 by Karen 24 Comments

Clarins Splendours Summer Bronzing Compact K air quotes — T-rex Karen says, “Gaaar! Do your highlighting first, and then do your contouring and/or bronzing.” Actually…I was supposed to be doing air quotes in this picture, but I think it looks more like I have T-rex claws.

For starters, there’s going to be a lot of “and/or” in this post, so I apologize in advance.

Buuut, the next time you don your war paint, try this: if you do any highlighting and/or contouring and/or bronzing (see?) try doing your highlighting before your contouring and/or bronzing, because the order matters! It make a difference.

This is probably a good time to mention that I don’t go gaga over contouring, but I will do it every once in a great while. Bronzing, on the other hand, is an everyday thing for me. I am completely non-functional without a little bit of bronzer, LOL!

Anywho, for the longest time, I did my bronzing before my highlighting. I’m not sure why though… I guess it was just force of habit.

my five best highlighters — Speaking of highlighters, here are five I really like

[Continue reading…]