Makeup

Ask MBB: How To Get Bold, Full Brows That Still Look Natural

March 11th, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

In tonight’s very special episode of Ask MBB, the housemates face a crisis of epic proportions…

Wait — wrong intro! Sorry, too much Bravo. 🙂

In this installment, MAC Senior Artist Victor Cembellin goes buck wild for brows — a subject I could seriously discuss for days.

FOR DAYS!

Productions mentioned…

If you’ve ever wanted bold, lush, full brows that still look natural, press play.

Thank you for watching, my friend. I know I don’t say this enough, but I love you. I love you, and I hope you’re having a good night.

Sorry, feeling a little sappy right now. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Got any burning makeup questions for Ask MBB? Leave them for me in a comment down below.

P.P.S. In other news, new cat sighting in my neighborhood. I spotted him on my walk the other day…

Wouldn’t ya know it? The one time I don’t have cat treats in my pocket, a new cat crosses my path. It’s so unfair. #catladyproblems

I’ve named him Lucky, and while he doesn’t know it yet, he is going to be my new kitty BFF. 🙂

The New MAC Mineralize Glasses: When It Comes to Moisture, These Glasses Are More Than Half Full

March 11th, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

MAC Mineralize Glass in Modern Romance — Wearing MAC’s new Mineralize Glass in Modern Romance ($22), one of 12 shades available now

This one’s totally for the gals on Team Cremesheen (of which I’m one!). The new MAC Mineralize Glass lipglosses are the bombdizzle (did I really just say that?), especially if you appreciate the super smooth texture of the Cremesheens and love hella hydrating glosses.

MBB FUN FACT: I always bring a tube of Deelight Cremesheen Glass with me whenever I travel by plane 1) because I lurve it and 2) because of how dry my lips get, but I may have to cheat on Deelight a little with one of these new Mineralize Glasses… They’re just SO moisturizing — maybe even a little more than the Cremesheens — and have a similarly silky smooth, non-sticky texture.

MAC Mineralize Glass in Cheerful, a mid-toned coral with a creamy finish

Could the secret to their hydrating handiness be hiding among the 77 moisturizing minerals (of which I can’t find a list) packed into each tube? Perhaps! I do have to say that my perpetually parched pout feels smoother, softer and quenched when I wear them.

The texture, while similar to the Cremesheens, feels a touch thicker to me. When I apply a Cremesheen Glass and rub my lips together, the formula feels very thin and almost watery, whereas the feel of these Mineralize Glasses reminds me of a MAC Plushglass…except without the bee sting.

MAC Mineralize Glass in Tender, a light cool pink with a creamy finish

They come in 12 shades, grouped into Frost and Cream finishes, and I’m kinda hot for the Frosts…

Hot for the Frosts? LOL!

The Frosts! You know how some frosty glosses can settle into lip lines and look funky? These don’t do that. Both the Frosts and the Creams apply smoothly and evenly, and they don’t pool into different areas of my lips or look patchy.

I think MAC did a bang-up job with these finishes.

MAC Mineralize Glass in Got Style, a mod-toned cool mauve with a frosty finish

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MAC Unsung Heroes: MAC Warm Soul Mineralize Blush

March 10th, 2014 by Karen 38 Comments

I love the way I feel with MAC Warm Soul Mineralize Blush on my cheeks…

I feel good, and by “good” I mean that feeling you get on a sunny day when you’re out walking in just jeans and a t-shirt, or “good,” like when you and a friend share dessert someplace on a lazy afternoon, and you both know each other so well that neither of you really feels the need to talk just to fill the space.

Comforting, natural and effortless. That’s how I feel with Warm Soul on my cheeks. It’s as if it was always meant to be there — like it was just waiting for me to find it, and when I did, the puzzle pieces fit.

Is it weird to feel this kind of connection with a golden beige powder blush?

If it is, I can’t say I care. 🙂

Warm Soul is the blush I’ve been waiting for — the one that works with errrrthing, that doesn’t get in the way of whatever eye or lip makeup I happen to be wearing, and yet has enough to stand on its own two legs when all I want to do that day is lightly fill in my brows, curl my lashes and apply a little concealer and gloss.

MAC Warm Soul Swatch on NC42 skin — Warm Soul on my NC42 skin

That’s how I wore it yesterday when El Hub and I made a last-minute Target run before The Walking Dead (which I thought was awesome, BTW).

I had less than five minutes to get ready. Only enough time for minimal makeup (“Brows, lashes, lips,” to quote Jeremy Renner) and to sweep Warm Soul on my cheeks.

Gotta love not having to do any elaborate blending or having to deal with any patchiness. Just a few swipes on each cheek, and it’s all good.

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Like Lip Product Lycanthropes, These New Bobbi Brown Art Sticks Combine a Lipstick and a Liner in One Chunky Crayon

March 7th, 2014 by Karen 18 Comments

Makeup pop quiz question 1: Is it a lipstick, a lip liner or just a good ‘ol-fashioned excuse to pretend we’re back in eighth-grade art class?

Answer: D, all of the above. The new Bobbi Brown Art Sticks ($26 each) are all of those things!

Spotted these chunky lip crayons at Saks Fifth Avenue in the city this afternoon. They’re like lipstick lycanthropes — part lipstick, part liner, 100-percent pure chunky stick pencil fun.

And pretty convenient tools if you like to streamline, am I right?

Not that I’m prepared to ditch any of the 3,646 lip products I regularly tote around with me throughout the day, but still. It’s nice to know that if I could streamline my lip product situation if I ever needed to.

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These 13 New Laura Mercier Lip Glace Shades Are Getting Me in the Mood for Spring

March 7th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

Calling all Laura Fans! Be on the lookout for these 13 new Lip Glace shades…

Lots of new Lip Glace lurve over at Laura Mercier right now.

I’m still here in the city, and one of the places I visited a little while ago was the Laura Mercier counter at Neiman Marcus in Union Square, where I spotted these 13 juicy new luscious Lip Glace lipglosses (Lip Glaces?) — all of them recent additions to Laura’s permanent line.

Top row from the left: Chocolate, Garnet, Poppy, Daiquiri, Tulip, Azalea and Cosmic; bottom row: Black Cherry, Orchid, Wildflower, Pink Pop, Nectar and Bare Baby

That colorful display up there stopped me in my tracks.

Now, I know that winters here in the Bay Area are pretty mild compared to winters in other parts of the U.S. and the world…but I don’t care. I’m still completely over it, and these colors are putting me in a warm-weather mood.

I think I squealed a little too loudly at the counter when I was swatching one of the creamy, bold brights. It was Pink Pop. I’ve definitely got my eye on that one, for sure…

And maybe also Daiquiri and Nectar. Those two deserve a happy home in my makeup bag, haha!

Yes, you know me all too well. 🙂

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New Additions to My Never-Ending Sephora Wish List…

March 4th, 2014 by Karen 28 Comments

This will only take a minute, wink-wink! — “This will only take a minute (wink-wink). I’ll be right out.”

Man, there’s like some weird temporal vortex Arthur C. Clarke thing going on inside the Sephora by my house. Today I meant to just run in and get a tube of NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, thinking that I’d be in and out of there in two swishes of a tabby’s tail but, uh, that totally didn’t happen.

I don’t know how long I was in there, but it was long enough to add all of this to my ever-growing makeup wish list…

Marc Jacobs Beauty Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer in Lux, $18

Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colour, $24 each

Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colour in Aubergine (left) and Smoky Topaz (right), $24 each

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Natural-Looking Skin the Easy Way With Benefit’s Big Easy Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector

February 28th, 2014 by Karen 27 Comments

The new Benefit Big Easy Multi-Balancing Complexion Perfector, $38

This morning I woke up feeling like this…

…because of this.

Yup, just call me TBK (Two Beer Karen), LOL!

We took that out-of-town friend of El Hub’s who stayed with us last night to a local brewery here in Novato called Moylan’s, where I “sampled” some of their Pomegranate Wheat, and since I hardly ever drink, I did not feel exceptional this morning.

I intended to do a full face o’ warpaint today, but when I sat down in front of my makeup mirror, my arms felt like lead weights… My body was like, “Oh, hell naw, hookah. We’re doing minimalist makeup today.”

So, out came my tube of Big Easy, a new BB cream from Benefit.

Dude! This stuff is boss. I’m not usually a big BB cream fan, either, mostly because I rarely feel like they provide enough coverage for me.

But Big Easy evens out my skin tone and blurs my pores without leaving my skin looking overly “done,” if you know what I mean, and the natural-looking, velvety matte finish is my favorite thing about it.

More quick and dirrrrty deets…

The oil-free liquid-to-powder formula is non-comedogenic.
It’s available in six shades. I wear the darkest one available, which is 06 Deep Beige.
The colors seem to be flexible with regard to working with your skin tone.
Contains broad-spectrum SPF 35.

It has an interesting texture — kind of slippery like many face primers (it does contain silicones), and it glides across my skin easily, buffing and blending with very little resistance.

The matte finish looks very flat on my combination dry/oily skin — no shine whatsoever — and I can even skip setting it with a powder, which is nice. It stays matte, too, as the day wears on, and controls oil like a champ.

Benefit Big Easy Ingredients — Ingredients…

I do find that Big Easy will settle into my pores and get a little streaky on my drier spots (like my cheeks) if I don’t moisturize immediately beforehand, almost like the product skips a bit on those dry patches. Benefit suggests applying it after moisturizer, and I can see why. It glides across my skin more smoothly when it’s thoroughly moisturized.

Three of the six Benefit Big Easy shades, from the left: 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige — Three of the six Benefit Big Easy shades, from the left — 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige — on my NC42 skin

02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Biege swatched on NW25 skin — 02 Light, 04 Medium and 06 Deep Beige on NW25 skin

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New Clarins Smoky Plum Ombre Minérale Mono Eye Shadow Ignites Hotter Smokey Eyes

February 26th, 2014 by Karen 29 Comments

Critics are calling Smoky Plum “The sleeper hit of spring shadows!”

Well, not really… I have no idea what they’re calling it, but I’m calling it ohmygoshLURVE! 🙂

Watch out! — or this shadow will steal your heart (like it stole mine).

I mean, I love Clarins and all, but when I think of sultry, pulse-quickening smokey shadows, Clarins doesn’t usually spring to mind. Most of the time I head over to NARS, MAC, Chanel or Tom Ford for that.

Clarins Smoky Plum Ombre Minérale Mono Eye Shadow, $21

But Smoky Plum, one of 14 pieces in the new Opalescence spring collection, could confidently hold its own with the smokiest of the smokey. Surprisingly complex, I think it’s definitely worth considering if you’re on the prowl for your next great smokey shadow.

A shimmery bronzed purple with taupe tendencies, it’s designed to be worn wet or dry, which just means that applying it with a wet brush head coaxes out more of the pigment and enhances the metallic finish.

Clarins Smoky Plum swatches on NC42 skin dry (left) and wet (right) — Smoky Plum swatches on NC42 skin dry (left) and wet (right)

Either way, applied wet or dry, I think Smoky Plum is pretty damned hot, and I used a combination of wet and dry applications for my makeup in these pics to get those light-to-dark gradients I love when I wear smokey eyes (incidentally, I like to spell smokey with an ‘e’ before the ‘y,’ while Clarins spells it without one).

A swatch of Smoky Plum swatch on NW25 skin — Swatches of Smoky Plum swatch on NW25 skin dry (left) and wet (right)

Wait ’til you get this purple puppy on your lids. Smoky Plum swatches beautifully on the back of a hand, but I think it’s infinitely prettier on eyes.

The first time I applied it, I remember looking in the mirror with the finished look and blinking incredulously a few times. Suddenly, tiny little flecks of silvery glitter appeared out of nowhere!

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