Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
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Just a quick sneak peek at a couple of pieces from the new Tom Ford Beauty makeup collection, babe.
The entire collection, which includes makeup, nail polish, skin care and brushes, is available now for pre-order online at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.
If you’re traveling across the pond, you can also currently find it at the London Heathrow airport in Terminals 3 and 5.
“Calgon, take me away…”
I had one of those moments today, but my escort away from drama wasn’t Calgon. It was Bare Escentuals, with their new bareMinerals holiday collection of bright, shimmery colors in kits with names like Things That Make You Glow.
Today was a little challenging. It got off to a good start, but when Tabs found out that I’m heading out of town this weekend, he went ballistic, unleashing a litany of diva demands, all of which he wants met by the time I leave on Friday.
I finished the easy ones — making arrangements for his favorite pet sitter, bringing one of the zinnia plants in the house, programming the Tivo to record Cats 101 — but then it got tough. He also wants an XXL kitty ascot (has to be silk) and a two-day supply of organic, gluten-free, non-GMO gravy.
Yeah, that’s not gonna happen…
All I have to say is thank goodness for makeup. I would have lost my marbles today if it hadn’t been for Things That Make You Glow, Box of Gems and R.S.V.P. — a few of the kits in the big Bare Escentuals bareMinerals holiday collection.
“I refuse to look at you until you bring home my ascot…”
Eyecolors from the left: Aglow, Black Gold, Happiness, Overjoyed and Pamper
Eyecolors from the left: Pashmina Glimmer, Praise, Shangri-la, Utopia and Vivid
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Almost half way up the hump, lovie! How about some bling to help you on the final climb? Perhaps these new kits from the Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Holiday 2011 collection can help.
The collection’s fairly large (here’s a complete list of products); the products pictured below are just some of the more luxurious (read: pricier) pieces from the release.
R.S.V.P. ($54; available at Bare Escentuals Boutiques and BareEscentuals.com) comes with…
Wearing NARS Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush on my cheeks and drinking a pumpkin chai latte!
Let’s band together, fellow makeup revolutionaries, and declare our freedom from big chunks of glitter! — because we, the blush lovers of the world, have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of a subtle glow.
And this year, victory is ours! Demure, shimmery cheeks are just a NARS Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush ($27) away. After you don a few layers of this sheer, shimmery peach, don’t be surprised if you suddenly feel the urge to raise your fist, power-to-the-people style. I did (and then quickly lowered it when I remembered how long it’s been since I shaved my pits, whoops!). 🙂
Miss Liberty, a member of the NARS holiday collection corps, calls attention to cheeks without shouting. A warm peach speckled with tiny pieces of silver glitter, it beautifully balances both color and shimmer.
I can’t even remember the last time I finished everything on my daily to-do list. Let’s see — when was that again? Maybe six months ago?
But no matter how poop-tacular it is to be as busy as we are, I try not to let it get my inner optimist down. Being busy, after all, is a good excuse to streamline your makeup routine, which can be a lot of fun, especially when it leads to products like the new NARS Podorosa Cream Eyeshadow ($23; from the Holiday 2011 collection).
After moseying through last weekend wearing this glossy, glittery golden brown shadow, I can safely say that it’s almost everything I’d want from a creamy brown.
Ponderosa gets its name from the tall timber pines indigenous to North America. For a sheer eye look, apply it to lids with a fingertip, and blend well. Or, for more saturated color, build it up in layers.
Pigmented, yet lightweight and thin, Ponderosa’s non-greasy texture blends easily into my skin. With it, I barely have to exert any effort (or whip out brushes, for that matter) to apply.
For a fast, fresh and sexy look, I’ll prime my lids first with the unstoppable NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, pat Ponderosa on top with my fingers, and then smooth out the edges.
Yeah, baby! 🙂
Now, brown shadows aren’t necessarily the first shadows that come to mind when I think “sexy,” but this one definitely revs my engine. Not in a tight red dress and sky-high heels way, though, but more of a button-down plaid shirt, worn jeans, Chucks and cherry Chapstick kinda way.
The glossy finish gives the color an informal ease that keeps it from appearing too formal, and when I wear it with some of the quieter shades from NARS Holiday, like Albatross Lip Gloss and Miss Liberty Highlighting Blush, I feel so California cool…
This post is part of a series sponsored by Walgreens.
As much as I love easy, breezy makeup and tinted moisturizers in summer, I always look forward to fuller coverage products, darker colors and matte textures each fall.
There’s a season for everything, and for me, fall means dressy, dramatic, and oh so much fun — like moody lipsticks, darker nail polishes, cozy fragrances and seductive smokey eyes.
Here are a few drugstore foundations to go with your fabulous formal makeup looks this fall.
Because it gets hotter here in summer than Ryan Gosling’s rippled abs, I usually wear sheer, lightweight makeup like tinted moisturizers and face tints, but when fall rolls around and the temperature drops, I like to switch to liquid, cream and powder foundations (and sometimes stick) for coverage from medium to full.
L’Oréal Visible Lift Smooth Absolute Instant Age-Reversing Foundation SPF 17 ($15.99; available in seven shades), one of my favorite drugstore liquid foundations, offers long-lasting, medium-to-full coverage that doesn’t look like cake, and I also think it photographs really well.
TIP: Because you can’t always test foundations at the drugstore, pale pretties might want to look for colors labeled beige or buff; gals with medium skin tones should opt for warm, medium or golden shades; and darker damsels should seek out colors labeled tan, sable or chestnut.
Sand Beige (left) and Sun Beige (right)
The new limited edition NARS Albatross Lip Gloss ($24 and part of the NARS Holiday 2011 collection) really put me in a fowl mood today…
(Sorry! 🙂 I couldn’t resist.)
Based on how it looked in the tube, I was sure I’d only feel “Eh” about it, but once I got it on my lips, I totally changed my tune.
For more on the NARS Holiday 2011 collection, check out…
Oh, NARS! You and your cheeky naughty nurse names. 🙂 I would love to sing the praises of your new G-Spot Multiple ($39; part of the new Holiday 2011 collection) to every woman in my life, but as much as I love the color, I can’t bear the thought of mentioning it to my mom…
I can hear it now — she’d like the color and would say, “I really like that G-Spot!” or “Thanks for the G-Spot!” or “Next time you order online, would you get me a G-Spot?”
Sure, Mom, okay, anything, can we please talk about something else?
It’s like that time we were stuck in traffic when George Michael’s I Want Your Sex was playing on the radio, and my brother yelled, “TURN IT UP!”
Now THAT was a long ride home, but I digress…
About G-Spot’s rosy golden hue, I think it looks kinda dark at first, but blended in this cream blush produces the most perfectly coy “Please be gentle with me” flush.
Love. 
For more on the NARS Holiday 2011 collection, check out…
And it gives my cheeks a good bear hug, too, latching on to my dry skin for a good five or six hours, which is not too shabby, tabby — especially for a cream product.
