Makeup

Giving Lips the Royale Treatment: Dior’s Diorific Lipstick in Royale, From the New Golden Winter Holiday Collection

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 31 Comments

Dior Diorific Lipstick in Royale from the new Golden Winter Collection — Dior Diorific Lipstick in Royale, from the new Golden Winter Collection

Never you mind that I’m 3,678 degrees of separation away from royalty. Even in glasses, my tow-up jeans with the hole in the left butt cheek, and my over-sized cat lady leopard sweater (yo, I’m stylin’ and profilin’ every day of my life!), I feel hella regal wearing Dior’s new $36 Diorific Lipstick in Royale. 🙂

Royale, a member of the House of Dior’s new Golden Winter holiday collection, pulls up to Dior counters in its royal carriage next month. A creamy neutral pink with little bits of golden glitter (visible to anyone who gets up in your grill, but not so much from an arm’s length away), it shimmers with secret lipstick sparkle.

Somebody hand me my scepter, and CHOP-CHOP! — make it snappy. I don’t remember where I left it, but it looks like this lipstick’s limited edition packaging. I know it’s around here somewhere… Like the lipstick, it’s gold, curvy and aristocratic.

Dior Royale Lipstick Golden Winter Collection — If I had a scepter, it would look like this…only longer

By proclamation, as the ruler of the Empire of Messyofficia, I name Royale the Official Pink Lipstick of the Royal Court for the following three reasons…

The lovely light rose flavor and scent, which linger as long as I wear it
The lightweight, yet full-coverage formula
The potent moisturizing power and wear time of 3-4 hours

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A 30-Minute MAC Divine Night Look, and Another Note to My Perpetually Late Self

October 23rd, 2013 by Karen 54 Comments

Dear Perpetually Late Self (yep, that’s you, Karen),

Duuuuuuude. Sometimes you really surprise me.

I used to think your best idea was dumping that guy you met dancing in that cage at the club, because really now, what kind of future can you have with a cage-dancing, club-hopping, Kangol-hat wearing player?

But this? Using your iPhone’s timer to track how much time you’re spending on your makeup? That’s brilliant. Your best idea yet.

I don’t know how you came up with it (perhaps you got tired of being late for, like, everything?), but in just a couple months it’s already saved you about a zillion hours.

And setting the phone’s Auto-Lock feature to “Never” was a pretty good idea. That way the phone didn’t even go to sleep. All you had to do was set the timer for 30 minutes and click “Start.”

Earlier this week I tried a 15-minute MAC Divine Night look. Today I gave myself a little more time…

Today you gave yourself 30 minutes to get your face on using the new MAC Divine Night collection and — “WOOP! WOOP!” — you actually did it.

Kudos. 🙂

Minutes 30:00-20:00 — Face

I like that you started with the basics — primer, foundation, concealer, powder and brows. You got your skin finished first, so if something unexpected had come up, at least you were done with that.

20:00-5:00 — Eyes

MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow in Past Midnight

For your eyes, you went with a shadow duo — purple and pink Mineralize Eye Shadow in Past Midnight — which seems wise because you were in a hurry. I remember you mentioning the duo before and how it had very little fallout and was easy to blend. Those things always save time. And when I saw that you decided to do a simple smokey eye, I thought, “Good call.”

Using MAC Feline Kohl all over your lids as a base made sense. The super creamy, easy-to-blend formula makes quick work of smokey eyes.

Oh, and patting the purple shade from Past Midnight directly on top? I couldn’t figure out why you did that at first, but then it hit me — the black base intensified the purple, and because Past Midnight’s finely blended powder was so easy to blend, you weren’t spending forever and a day buffing out the edges with your tapered 224.

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The MAC Divine Night Collection Makes It Easy To Stay Frosty

October 21st, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

The last time I felt this frosty was about 10 years ago when I almost finished an entire jar of Betty Crocker Vanilla Frosting during an all-night Sex and the City-watching marathon.

What can I say? The Aiden years make me stress eat. Carrie should’ve ended up with him…

Anywho, the frostiness. There’s lots of it in MAC’s new Divine Night holiday collection — lots of frosty finishes.

MAC Divine Night Eyeshadows — MAC Divine Night Mineralize Eye Shadows ($25 US and $27.50 CAN)

The MAC Divine Night Mineralize Eye Shadows, clockwise from the purple pan in the lower left:

Past Midnight — blackish purple with a violet pearl base on the outside, and a soft white with pink frost on the inside
Gilded Night — bright gold with a silver pearl base on the outside, and a black with pearl on the inside
Captivating — a bright white gold base on the outside, and a deep gold on the inside
Tonight’s Temptation — black with pearl base on the outside, and a royal blue on the inside
Exquisite Ego — bronze base on the outside, and soft white champagne on the inside

MAC Divine Night Mineralize Skinfinishes ($33 US and $38.50 CAN)

Clockwise from the light pink pan in the lower left:

Centre of Attention — a pastel peach pink with pink shimmer on the outside, and a 24K gold shimmer on the inside
Perfectly Poised — a bronzy coral with golden tones on the outside, and a creamy beige with a pinkish purple sheen on the inside
Scene to Be Seen — a mauve with a pink sheen on the outside, and a brick rose with golden reflects on the inside

MAC Divine Night Blush — MAC Divine Night Mineralize Blushes ($27.50 US and $32.50 CAN)

The MAC Divine Night Mineralize Blushes, clockwise from the plum pan on the bottom:

Lavish Living — a violet with a silver pearl base with golden pearl and a Satin finish
Talk of the Town — a warm brown base with yellow bronze and a Satin finish
Lured to Love — a coral pink base with pink frost and a Satin finish

The MAC Divine Night Fluidlines, clockwise from the purple pot:

Macroviolet — a deep smoked violet with reddish pearl
Deliciously Rich — a shimmering dirty taupe
Stares & Speculation — a dirty olive with golden pearl

MAC Divine Night Lipsticks ($16.50 US and $20 CAN)

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A 15-Minute MAC Divine Night Look, and a Note to My Perpetually Late Self

October 21st, 2013 by Karen 17 Comments

Dear Perpetually Late Self (yes, I am talking to myself),

What is it with you and clocks!? Why are you always running behind? Seriously, why can’t you ever get from point A to B on time? It’s a mystery that I don’t even know if the universe understands…

(#realtalk: I suspect that it might have something to do with time management, which isn’t exactly your strong suit… But I’m not about to tell you that. Oh, hell no. I value my life and sanity too much, so I’ll continue to pretend it’s due to cosmic forces out of our control.)

But I do appreciate that you’re working on it. Your decision to do a full face in 15 minutes today with the new MAC Divine Night holiday collection was a brilliant idea.

Snaps, man. At least you’re trying. 🙂

Minutes 14:59-9:00 — Eyes

OK, I can see why you chose to start with the Mineralize Eye Shadows from this collection. Each one has two shades, so they’re like a ready-to-wear duo in every pan.

MAC Exquisite Ego Mineralize Skinfinish Eye Shadow — Exquisite Ego Mineralize Skinfinish Eye Shadow, a bronze, and a soft white champagne

Good choice going with the bronze and pink Exquisite Ego. Bravo. Because the colors are neutrals, even if you do a slap-dash job applying them, people probably won’t even notice your mistakes. I’d do the same thing.

MAC Divine Night Exquisite Ego — The flat shape of the MAC 239 Brush helps keep fallout to a minimum

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Laura Mercier’s Luxe Stickgloss Holiday Collection Sticks It to Dry Lips

October 18th, 2013 by Karen 15 Comments

Laura Mercier Baby Lips Stickgloss — Baby Lips

To all my dry-lipped ladies, throw yo’ hands up! Throw yo’ hands up! Throw yo’ hands up!

If I were a platinum record-selling rap superstar, and not just a husky tabby’s professional pet assistant, that would be my on-stage audience response chant.

I seriously doubt that it would catch on pop culture fire like “Who let the dogs out” did, which reminds me, remember when people were using that in casual conversation, like “How’s it going, Jane?” “Oh, it’s going great. Who let the dogs out!? Who, who, who, who — who let the dogs out!?”

So annoying…

Whatevs, I live for excitement! I want everyone to throw their hands up like I did when I tried the four lippies in Laura Mercier’s new $48 Luxe Stickgloss Collection holiday set.

Sheer and slick, like a cross between a lipstick and a balm, they hydrate like ca-ray-zaaaay! — and look great, too. Rosy pink Brown Sugar, warm pink Baby Lips, coppery Courtisane and plummy Peony glow with a soft, sophisticated shine, and they also make my lips look a little fuller, methinks.

Laura Mercier Stickgloss Set — Pretty ladies!

Laura Mercier Courtisane Stickgloss — Courtisane

Laura Mercier Brown Sugar Stickgloss — Brown Sugar

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Light Just Loves BECCA Rose Gold Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed

October 17th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Three reasons to FREAK THE EFF OUT when you meet BECCA’s latest highlighter, the new $38 Shimmering Skin Perfector in Rose Gold…

1. The geometric design on the pan

So modern… So elegant…. I almost couldn’t bear to touch it with my finger the first time.

2. The gorgeous rosy gold color

What is this 1849 again? The start of another gold rush? 🙂 The pan really does look like it’s made from rose gold, doesn’t it?

It also makes skin glow, but not in that disco ball/oily way. I like this glow a lot.

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A $48 Cruise? Yup, With the Tarte Gorgeous Getaways Portable Palette Set

October 16th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

If you’re setting a course for adventure this year and plan to live out of a suitcase for any length of time over the holidays, you might want to treat yourself to an early, travel-friendly gift — Tarte’s Gorgeous Getaways Portable Palette Set ($48).

Like upwardly mobile kitty modeling moguls, it’s built to go places, but even at home, it looks gorgeous on a dresser.

Like cruise ships, it’s divided into layers.

The powder eyeshadows and blushes hang out on the top tier…

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According to My Calendar, It’s Time for a Beauty Treat: The New Benefit Countdown to Love Advent Calendar Beautifully Counts

October 15th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Five, four, three, two…

LOVE!

The countdown to love is on, and Benefit is managing the clock. You might feel the love, too, if you find Benefit’s new Countdown to Love Advent Calendar ($68) under the tree this year.

Remember advent calendars when you were a kid? With the tiny toys or pieces of candy hidden behind little pop-out compartments? They’d usually start on the first day of December, or thereabouts, and you’d get to open another one of the compartment every day all the way to Christmas.

The ones I usually got had hard candies and chocolates, and those were always fun, but Benefit took the idea to a higher plane of awesomeness with their new Countdown to Love kit, which was obviously designed to drive Benefit babes wild.

Countdown to Love comes with 24 surprises, which works out to just under $3 each, including 21 travel-sized mini Benefit products and three accessories (two charms and a barrette).

Yes, it’s really, really cute, albeit extra large, but it’s more than that. It contains some of the best stuff in the Benefit line — practical, everyday products you could work into your rotation immediately, like Hoola, CORALista, Benetint and Highbeam.

Benefit Countdown to Love Advent Calendar sugarbomb — Hoola, Sugarbomb and Sunbeam

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