Makeup

Eyes Shimmer While Lips Go Nude in Jouer Fall 2011

August 3rd, 2011 by Karen 25 Comments

Jouer Fall 2011

Allow me to direct your attention to the picture above. See, that is why you don’t let your husband futz with a fresh tube of lipstick.

I sure do love that man, but sometimes he’s all elbows and thumbs. Seriously, watching him try to open something delicate is like watching a bear touch type (i.e., it’s not pretty).

The moral of this story? — if you’re super-stoked about a new lippie, especially one as smooth and moisturizing as this new one from Jouer, keep it safely tucked away in your purse.

That poor thing up there is Dusty ($22), one of six new Jouer products for fall (coming to counters and online this September). The focus is firmly on lips and eyes in this release, and Dusty, a full-coverage nude lippie, joins three Liquid Shimmer Eyeliners ($22 each; available in Fox, Sable and Mink), a Travel Eyelash Curler ($14), and two Everyday Classic Wear Mascaras ($20 each; available in Noir and Brun).

Over the past year I’ve gotten to like Jouer, a small, high-end indie brand sold at Henri Bendel stores and online, both in terms of the overall performance of their products and how the brand handles color. I like to call it upscale accessible and runway chic, like a city girl’s version of Becca.

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I Get 4 Hours of Fun from These Clinique Lid Smoothie Antioxidant 8-Hour Eye Colours

August 2nd, 2011 by Karen 35 Comments

A spinach smoothie Broccoli, carrot, blueberry, spinach.

Clinique whipped up a downright delicious-sounding blend of fruit- and veggie-derived antioxidant extracts to make their new line of 12 cream-to-powder eyeshadows (starts off as a cream and dries to a powder), and it’s enough to make me wonder if the company collaborated with Whole Foods or raided a farmers’ market.

According to Clinique, the special sauce they used for these new Lid Smoothie Antioxidant 8-Hour Eye Colours ($19.50 each) combines antioxidants with cucumber, aloe vera and caffeine. The recipe is supposed to make tired eyes look revitalized and refreshed.

These are also supposed to be water resistant and, as the name implies, last a whopping eight hours.

If nothing else, I think these do feel refreshing — not thanks to the recipe, per se, but thanks to the applicator itself. It’s metal and shaped like the tip of an angled lipgloss. Because it’s made of something that looks and feels like a silvery metal (aluminum, perhaps?), it feels cool and refreshing against my skin. It may only be a packaging gimmick, but it’s still one that I like.

That said, when it comes to actually applying these on a regular basis, I’d trade the cool tip for a brush. Because of the control a brush affords me, I prefer to apply these shadows to the back of my hand first, then quickly pick them up with an eyeshadow brush and apply to my lids from there (the directions suggest blending with a finger before the formula sets).

Clinique Lid Smoothies from the left to the right: Currant Affair, Born Freesia, Cute-cumber, Bit O-Honey, Pinko Biloba

Clinique designed the Lid Smoothies to be worn alone or layered beneath powder eyeshadows, and I think they did a fantastic job getting the texture just right. They apply evenly, smoothly and layer without caking, making them great for girls in a rush.

Swatches from the left to the right: Pinko Biloba, Bit O’Honey, Cute-cumber, Born Freesia and Currant Affair
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Is the E.L.F. Studio Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder a Dupe for the NARS Orgasm-Laguna Duo?

August 2nd, 2011 by Karen 32 Comments

elf contouring blush and bronzing powder 1
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Two things I never expected…

The Jess/Jason storyline in True Blood (Wait — what!? More on that in a few)
How I’d feel about E.L.F. Studio’s $3 Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder

E.L.F.’s bargain basement beauty comes up often in conversations about the fabulous $40 NARS Highlighting Bronzing Blush Duo in Orgasm/Laguna, a makeup masterpiece, if you ask me, and one of my favorite pieces of all time, because it’s seen by many as a major money-saving dupe.

What’s so special about the Orgasm/Laguna Duo, you might ask? Well, that depends. If you ask my cheeks, they’d say they love the way it brightens them up. I use the Laguna bronzer to contour my cheeks with a rich golden brown and the Orgasm blush to give the apples of my cheeks a golden, peachy pink flush.

I love the duo so much that I haven’t taken a trip without it in at least three years.

But at $40, it’s far from cheap, which leaves the door wide open for a drugstore dupe.

The question is, does this E.L.F. deliver? From outward appearances, it sure looks like it does…

elf contouring blush and bronzing powder closed
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Wallets and Pockets Won’t Protest These Two New Essence Mini Lipgloss Sets

August 1st, 2011 by Karen 50 Comments

essence mini lipgloss set

When you find a man who’ll carry your lipgloss for you in his pocket without protest, you best hold on to that boy! I’m dead serious.

Most of the dudes I dated before El Hub were pretty rigid about what they’d put in their pockets. Keys went here, wallet and phone went there — there was a system at work, and they didn’t like it when things disrupted the system.

The keepers, though, won’t mind holding your gloss for you, even if it messes up their routine.

Which brings me to these two new Essence Mini Lipgloss Sets ($2.99 each). I wouldn’t be surprised if the peeps at Essence had male/female pocket politics in mind when they dreamed up these tiny tubes of sheer, long-wearing lipgloss. Dudes might even appreciate how streamlined (and pocket friendly) they are.

Essence makes what I feel are some of the best drugstore lipglosses out there today (have you tried their Stay With Me Lipglosses? Fantastic!), and these non-sticky newcomers are right up there with the best of ’em in terms of value and quality.

Don’t let their diminutive stature deceive you. These tiny tubes are towering titans of hydrating, durable gloss. The six micro-glosses that come in the Devil’s Love & Kisses and Angel’s Kisses in Heaven Sets (three tubes per set) even last me through a meal.

essence mini lipgloss set boxes
Devil’s Love & Kisses Set on the left and Angel’s Kisses in Heaven Set on the right

essence mini lipgloss set boxes open
Devil’s Love & Kisses Set on the left and Angel’s Kisses in Heaven Set on the right
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MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation Is a Hit on Camera, But How Does It Handle Oily Skin in Real Life?

July 31st, 2011 by Karen 47 Comments

Written by Sam

Lights, camera, action! Today we’re filming on location, and the show is in HD. Let’s take a closer look at a mammoth makeup all-star in today’s guest post from Sam.

MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation

Within every category of cosmetics are those products that almost everyone adores but yet for one reason or another I just haven’t tried. Maybe I had my nose stuck in a novel, or perhaps I was busying myself on a different bandwagon at the time.

Whatever the reason, I always seem to be hopping on some bandwagons late, like this one, which drove by me like a lumbering, metal makeup truck with the words, “MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation” plastered across its side.

MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Invisible Cover Foundation Actually, I’d latched onto the rear bumper of this popular foundation about three years ago, but I was just getting into makeup at the time and rarely stayed with the same products for more than a month, regardless of how good or bad they might have been. It wasn’t long before I lost interest in Invisible Cover Foundation ($40 for a 1.01-oz. bottle; exclusive to Sephora) on my endless quest to find bigger and better things.

Then, a few months ago, I decided to try it again, so I grabbed a new bottle of this four-star-rated product and gave it a whirl.

My skin is pale (think Elmer’s Glue), with yellow undertones, which few cosmetic companies seem to recognize as an actual skin tone, as if they think that if you’re pale, you’ve gotta be pink. Color me surprised and excited to learn that Invisible Cover comes in 26 shades!

That’s pretty impressive for a consumer line, and the colors run the gamut from pale, to pale pink, to deep ebony, meaning that most people, including me, should be able to find a match. In my case it’s Marble 117, for “light skin with yellow undertones.”

The product comes in some of the most stunning foundation packaging I’ve ever seen. A completely transparent outer plastic bottle has the information and product name printed on it in MAKE UP FOR EVER’s signature font, and the actual product is housed within an inner vial inside the outer shell.

Under the glossy black cap sits a pump (thank god, a pump!). I’ve really come to despise bottles of foundations designed to be poured because no matter how hard I try, they always make a mess. And I can never get that last bit of product out that sticks to the sides of the bottle without getting Medieval on the packaging.
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The Tokidoki Royal Pride Hercolino Palette Sings to a Sheer Toon

July 29th, 2011 by Karen 15 Comments

One of these days I’m going to try to draw a Tokidoki-style cartoon starring Tabs, but I’m afraid that if I run the idea by him, he’ll bark out too many diva demands. 🙂

Tokidoki Tabs Speaking of cute characters, how are you doing tonight? I wanted to show you this Tokidoki palette I spotted at Sephora. It’s called the Tokidoki Royal Pride Hercolino ($28).

Check out that dual-door design (CUTE!).

There are six powder shadows inside, but the Tokidoki artwork is really what caught my eye. That space in the middle, by the way, is supposed to hold a cute little charm (a keychain fob of Hercolino, aka Little Hercules).

The palette contains six Tokidoki eyeshadows…

Profumo (matte dusty rose)
Elettica (sparkling gray green)
Ippo (dark purple)
Lion Pappa (pearlized bronze)
Patatino (cream)
Hercolino (pearlized chocolate brown)

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Swatch Ya Think About These Custom Color Kits from Smashbox?

July 29th, 2011 by Karen 33 Comments

Last night after dinner I felt like having eye candy for desert, so I zipped over to the Sephora down the street (there’s one literally blocks away, which is equal parts good/bad) just to browse…

No, really! Just to browse. 🙂 And miracle of all miracles, I managed to leave without bringing anything other than these Smashbox swatches home.

These $59 Sephora exclusive Custom Color kits come in three flavors, one for ladies with light skin, another for medium skin and one for dark skin, and each one comes with seven products for eyes, lips and cheeks that, if purchased separately, would cost about $175.

Not too shabby, tabby.

Apologies for the in-store Blair Witchy camera phone pic…

Take a quick look at the swatches, and let me know what you think. Those Cream Eye Trios look pretty awesome to me…

Smashbox Custom Color kit for Light Skin

Swatches from the Left: 1. Eyeshadows in Fizz, 2. Minx and 3. Obsidian; 4. Fusion Soft Lights in Light; 5. Cream Eye Trio in Light; 6. Limitless Eye Liner in Onyx; 7. The Nude Lip Pencil in Light; 8. Lip Enhancing Sheer Color Gloss in Radiant; and 9. Reflection High Shine Lipgloss in Pink Sorbet
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Dear Essence Quattro Eyeshadow: I’ve Got Nothing But XOXO’s for You

July 28th, 2011 by Karen 25 Comments

The Essence Quattro Eyeshadow palette in XOXO reminds me of Mariah Carey’s performance in Precious.

Why? Because it’s also shockingly good.

Let’s be honest — after Glitter, for which Mimi won a Razzie Award for Worst Actress despite basically playing herself in the film, I didn’t really expect much from her return to the big screen, but as a die-hard fan (I still have the Vision of Love single floating around here somewhere…on tape), I had to give her a second chance.

Yes, that IS Padma from Top Chef.

And I’m very glad I did. 🙂

I thought Mimi’s performance as a social worker in Precious, like the $2.99 Essence Quattro Eyeshadow palette in XOXO I tried today, was actually, well, pretty darn good!

Where Mariah nailed nuanced emotion, Essence nailed long-wearing eyeshadow, and both of them deserve a round of applause.

My track record with Essence’s other eyeshadows hasn’t always been great. I find many of their singles to be quite pretty, but I’ve experienced mediocre wear time and some fallout from them beneath my eyes.

The colors in the XOXO quad, however, seem to be cut from a different (and better) cloth.
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