Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Rrrrow! Tarte hopes we’ll heed the call of the wild, jungle cats and kittens, and prance over to Sephora and Ulta stores to peruse the new fall 2012 collection (available now in stores and online).
Here’s a quick look at the eye palettes and some of the other pieces from the collection…
Available exclusively at Sephora
Available exclusively at Ulta
Of course I got all jazz hands (JAZZ HANDS!) when I saw the neutrals in Benefit’s new eye illuminating kit, Peek-A-Bright Eyes ($32).
Brown, beige and pink eye makeup works on me like shot of makeup love straight to the heart! The combo takes me to that happy place where pink unicorns with rainbow manes roam free, Ryan Gosling walks around shirtless 24/7, and everyone’s eye makeup always looks flawless. 🙂
Benefit says the shades in the kit, which arrives at Benefit stores, counters and online next month, all work together to create a dazzling, bright-eyed, wide-awake look.
It comes with three eyeshadows (a base shade in Buff, a contour shade in Brown and a highlight in Pearly Pink), two tiny eye brushes, an Eye Bright and a booklet with a tutorial, and some tips and tricks.
For my makeup this afternoon, I used the tutorial in the kit as a jumping off point…
Wearing Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Muse on my lips
Well, geez — and you thought destroying those Horcruxes was hard. That was a cakewalk compared to this!
Have I ever told you about my quest to find a matte, long-wearing liquid lipstick that doesn’t dry out my lips? If you have a minute, it’s a pretty good story — a story filled with sorcery, science and more flakes than a big bowl of Special K cereal.
It all started with my poor, dry lips…
You see, they’ve always been insatiably thirsty. They crave moisture like a husky cat craves gravy, and almost every liquid matte lipstick I’ve ever tried has left them chapped and flaky.
It got so bad a few times that not even Tabs would kiss me. 🙁 And I came to assume that I’d need supernatural assistance.
What I wanted was a moisturizing liquid lipstick that I could just slip on after breakfast and not have to fuss with for the rest of the day, and then one day, out of the blue, I came across the Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipsticks ($28 each, and new for fall 2012).
From top to bottom: Canvas, Raven, Ballet and Muse
These pricey pretties kinda rock, and they weren’t even at the end of a rainbow! 🙂 Unscented and unflavored, they last an impressive 10 hours for me (although Hourglass claims they can last up to 14). They come in nine profoundly pigmented shades with a lightweight liquid formula and a non-sticky texture, and best of all, they don’t leave my lips looking like they’ve been through a cheese grater, score!
So, does it take a degree in the dark arts to conjure up a matte, long-wearing liquid lipstick loaded with moisture? Nope. Hourglass turned to the wonders of science to create advanced polymers, long chains of molecules made up of many smaller molecules strung together.
Just apply Opaque Rouge to clean, bare lips (it’s best not to be wearing any oils or balms; otherwise, the lipstick won’t take). Then, wait about a minute for the product to set.
The polymers bind to create a pigmented elastic film that prevents moisture from escaping, as skin-conditioning emollients, fruit extracts and viamins A, C and E make the moisturizing more effective.
Moisturizing and beautiful? 
I also love the intense colors and velvety matte finish, which doesn’t look flat, harsh or stark to me.
Swatches from the left: Canvas, Ballet, Muse and Raven
Ballet
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Oh, did I tell you? Last weekend I did a marathon…text message session about makeup with my friend Jen. 🙂
Jen’s a busy new mom with a full-time job. She hasn’t been too adventurous with her makeup for the past few years — mostly just mascara and gloss — but she wants to start playing a little more now and asked me for some easy eye makeup ideas. Nothing fancy, just simple looks she could wear to work or to dinner with her hubby.
When she described the overall look she was going for as, “natural with a kick,” that got me thinking… It might be fun to make a series out of this. Just some really easy eye makeup looks to get you pretty, polished and out the door.
If you’re a busy mom like Jen, a student heading back to school this fall, or anyone looking for a few more quick eye makeup ideas, hopefully the brief tutorials I’ll be sharing over the next few days can help.
So, what does “natural with a kick” mean? Well, for me it means a look that’s one step above a no-makeup makeup look, like something where you can definitely tell that you’re wearing makeup, but it doesn’t look anywhere near as done up as a full-blown Kim Kardashian smokey eye.
The colors I think of for looks like these are usually soft daytime neutrals, bronzes, browns and khakis with matte, sheen and shimmer finishes. Nothing too crazy at all. Just a simple, pretty look with very few products and a wee bit o’ blending.
Today’s eye look is super easy, too. It’s a soft and shimmery eye with bronze and brown, and it only takes about 10 minutes.
I’m mostly using MAC products here, but if you have any similar shades from different brands, feel free to substitute.
From the left: MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush, MAC 266 Small Angle Brush, MAC 217 Blending Brush, MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy, MAC Eyeshadow in Concrete and MAC Paint Pot in Indianwood
First things first — if your lids are oily, as mine sometimes are — prime them first with a translucent primer (I like NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base). The primer gives the other products we’ll be using a better surface to adhere to.
If your lids are dry, on the other hand, in the interest of saving time, you can probably skip this step.
Next, apply MAC Paint Pot in Indianwood on your lids with something like the MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush, concentrating most of the color along the lash line.
(No need to worry about being too neat here, because we’ll be blending things out in a minute.)
Then, take the remaining product on your brush, and run it along your lower lash line.
Grab a MAC 217 Blending Brush (or something similar), and blend out the edges of the shadow on your lids.
Try to create a soft gradient/transition where the pigment is at its darkest along your lash lines, fading as it moves up toward your brows.
To further define the shape of your eyes, reach for MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy, and line the upper and lower lashes (you can also be a little messy with this step, too), and then use your MAC 239 to softly blend out the edges.
Wow, I can’t believe it’s 11 already. I seriously zoned out playing with makeup this afternoon. Somehow I lost track of about three hours, LOL!
Oh, well. Not like it’s the first time that’s happened. 🙂
What are you up to tonight? No plans for me, obviously. My office is in a room upstairs, and El Hub and Tabs are watching TV downstairs, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, judging by the sound of it. I think I’ll go say hi to the boys.
I wish I had somewhere fun or fancy to go because I’d love to take this eye look out for a spin. I used the new Dior Golden Jungle Palette in Golden Browns #002.
Dior probably could have left out the sheer, nude peach gloss… It doesn’t exactly scream, “I’m worthy of a $70 palette!” especially one that could really benefit from the addition of a blush, but whatcha gonna do?
Love the little hatch over the gloss to protect it from any eyeshadow spillover. Good on ya, Dior. That’s a nice touch.
I think the rest of the palette is pretty fab. The eyeshadows are top-notch (and should be for $70). No fallout, easy to blend, and no creasing, yes!
Wearing Lush Emotional Brilliance Liquid Eye Liner in Motivation and Cream Eyeshadow in Happiness on my eyes, and Liquid Lip Color in Power on my cheeks
I’m feeling emotional today…but for once it’s not because Tabs is ignoring me or because I’m PMS-ing.
Shocking, I know! 🙂
It’s because of Lush and their new Emotional Brilliance Collection, the brand’s first-ever line of color cosmetics. It launches tomorrow worldwide at Lush stores and online at lushusa.com, featuring 13 Liquid Lip Colors, 11 Liquid Eyeliners and 6 Cream Eyeshadows, each priced at $22.95.
From the left: Liquid Lip Color in Power, Liquid Lip Color in Vibrance, Cream Eyeshadow in Happiness, Cream Eyeshadow in Wise, Liquid Eye Liner in Motivation and Liquid Eye Liner in Feeling Secure
Instead of basing the colors on trendy seasonal shades, Lush tried to tap into their emotional side, choosing a pigmented palette and giving the pieces names like Happiness and Motivation.
According to Lush, each of the product names/shades can help you draw on the power of suggestion. Say, “happiness, happiness, happiness,” visualize yourself feeling better, and apply golden coral Cream Eyeshadow in Happiness on your lids, with the idea being that the happy color and name could lead to a positive change in behavior.
Sounds worth a try. I could always use a little extra happiness.
Or maybe you’d prefer one of the Lip Colors, like shimmery red Power, to help you through that big meeting at work.
Even the little jars look therapeutic with their dropper caps, like vintage medicine bottles.
“Apply two of these, Karen, and call me in the morning.”
Yes, Dr. Tabs. 🙂
Kinda touchy-feely, but Lush is crunchy granola like that (as am I sometimes).
Some first impressions on six of the 30 new pieces…
First I powered up with Power, a shimmery reddish orange that glides across my lips like a drag queen down a runway. With the doe-foot applicator (the dropper handle is just for show), it applies smoothly, like whipped butter, and feels lovely, but it also got my hopes up dangerously high…
When I tried shimmery golden Vibrance, I was surprised by its almost chunky consistency — not at all like Power. I had to pat it down to get the color to spread across my lips.
Hmm… Seems like these lippies vary widely, although both of them are unscented, unflavored and feel as light as feathers. MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B
At least for me and my small hands, the quaint dropper handle makes the liner brush a little tricky to control, so I skip it and use my trusty Sonia Kashuk Bent Brush instead.
Both bright, shimmery teal Motivation and matte purple Feeling Secure dry in less than a minute, so they’re probably better suited for sharp liner looks than smudged ones (Note: not recommended for water lines; I tried ’em, and my eyes started tearing up).
Of these two, I definitely prefer shimmery Motivation. Compared to it, Feeling Secure looks dull and lifeless. MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B
Shimmery golden coral Happiness and matte khaki Wise latch on to my lids like eagle talons!
Like the liners, both of them dry very quickly, completely setting in less than a minute, and on the one hand, I appreciate being able to just swipe and go, but on the other, I miss not being able to blend out the edges.
As for layering, neither one likes it, and both begin to look uneven and patchy when I apply too much. MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B-
Swatches from the left: Liquid Eye Liner in Motivation, Liquid Eye Liner in Feeling Secure, Cream Eyeshadow in Happiness, Cream Eyeshadow in Wise, Liquid Lip Color in Power and Liquid Lip Color in Vibrance
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Wearing Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Strip
Sweet! Urban Decay’s coming out with a second round of products for fall 2012 — four new nude lip shades and two face/complexion primers.
Now your Smoked Palette has a few more friends to play with this fall. 🙂
Coming soon to Urban Decay counters and urbandecay.com.
From left to right: Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Naked ($18), Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Strip ($19), Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Streak ($19) and Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Naked2 ($19)
Complexion Primer Potions ($31 each)
Swatches from the left: Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color in Naked, Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Streak, Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Naked2 and Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Strip
Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Streak
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In case you were thinking about partaking of Benefit’s Beauty Kit fall 2012 flash sale tonight, here are pics and swatches of the six limited edition kits to help you decide. 🙂
The online-only sale (no promo code necessary) ends tomorrow morning, July 20, at 9 a.m. (PST). After that, these kits are going, going, gone…
