Makeup

The Urban Decay Cowboy Junkie Shadows and Gloss Set Glitters Like a Starry Night

November 9th, 2010 by Karen 84 Comments

karen of makeup and beauty blog reviews the urban decay cowboy junkie set 1 final

Of course, on the ONE DAY I actually need the only cowboy hat I’ve ever owned, I can’t find it. Welcome to the story of my life. Wherever you are, my beloved black straw cowboy hat, I reckon we would’ve made sweet music together today, taking pictures of ourselves covered in glitter with the new Urban Decay Cowboy Junkie Shadows & Gloss Set ($38).

karen of makeup and beauty blog in a cowboy hat and wedding dress
Yee Haw!

The new set rides into town for the holidays, kicking up glitter in its wake with four powder shadows, a liner and one lonesome lip gloss.

urban decay cowboy junkie set review swatches photos makeup and beauty blog palette 1

Three members of the set hail from the Midnight Cowboy eyeshadow gang, known for their eye-catching, dramatic glitter.

karen of makeup and beauty blog reviews the urban decay cowboy junkie set eye

But this glitter is like dust on a desert trail (gets everywhere). Midnight Cowboy (a gritty, glittery peachy pink), Midnight Cowboy Rides Again (a glittery peachy tan) and Midnight Cowgirl (a glittery gold) leave fallout everywhere — beneath my eyes, around my nose and on my cheeks. Shoot, I even found some on Tabs.
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LORAC Box Office Hit Full Face Palette Swatches and Eating Cheetos from a Cup

November 8th, 2010 by Karen 47 Comments

lorac box office hit

How do you spell a scream, friends? Gaaaaah! perhaps? I had one of those days… I started with grand plans and great expectations to write about, among other things, the beauty gods’ gift to big hair and the new smokey Urban Decay Black Palette, but I hit The Great Wall.

No, not the one in China.

Writer’s block, which you might think I wouldn’t get anymore after four years and 4,000 posts, but I do.

You might have writer’s block if you’re swigging Cheetos from a cup.

I’d hoped for witty prose, but all that came out of my fingertips today was gooey green baby poo. At one point I just gave up on the whole sentence thing and decided to take a ton of pictures of the LORAC Box Office Hit Full Face Palette ($35) instead.

And if you’re thinking, “what a croc,” you’d be right. The limited edition holiday cutie for eyes, lips and cheeks is dressed like a croc, a reddish one, in faux patent croc. It’s available now at Ulta stores and also online.

I may attempt a tutorial, now that I’ve stopped crying, once I get the swelling to go down around my eyes…

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How About a Lift from the NYX Eyebrow Push-Up Bra?

November 8th, 2010 by Karen 32 Comments

karen of makeup and beauty blog reviews the nyx push up bra eyebrow pencil
NYX Eye Brown Push-Up Bra on brows

How do you feel about glitter brows?

My gut reaction when I saw the NYX Eyebrow Push-Up Bra pencil ($10) was a big, fat OH, HELL YEA! I’ve probably worn glitter just about everywhere else, so I figure brows won’t be that much of a stretch.

The dual-tipped Eyebrow Push-Up Bra, called that because of how it’s supposed to lift brows, is one of five fall products from NYX to shape, define and highlight eyebrows. The side with the darker tip, the one for defining sparse areas, sports a sheer taupe with silver glitter; the other side’s a creamy, peachy pink that appears to lift the brows when applied beneath the arch (also works as a brow highlighter).

nyx push up bra for eyebrow
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The New Dolce & Gabbana Lip Jewels Compact Has Ruby Kisses for You

November 6th, 2010 by Karen 18 Comments

dolce gabbana lip jewel review swatches photos

Do you remember the Dolce & Gabbana Lip Jewels Compact ($60) from backstage at Milan Fashion Week? The one with the big ruby on the top? Well, it’s finally here! And lemme tell ya — put on yer stunner shades, because Dolce & Gabbana blinged this mutha out!

dolce gabbana lip jewel review swatches photos compact

The compact’s limited edition for the holidays and holds four Classic Cream Lipsticks from Dolce & Gabbana’s permanent line, three reds — Dahlia (blueish), Ultra (warmish) and Devil (a true red) — and one neutral called Nude (a creamy beige). All of them apply smooth and creamy with full-coverage color.

I’ve been picturing myself wearing the red shades with black cat eyes… HOTNESS! Of course, when I was trying these on yesterday it was after midnight, and I’d already taken off the rest of my makeup. I’ll do almost anything in the name of makeup research, but I won’t share face shots of myself with ratty hair and pajamas. Well… least not this time, ha!

dolce gabbana lip jewel review swatches photos swatches on nc35 skin
From left: Nude, Dahlia, Ultra, Devil
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Girls, Follow the Boys to This NARS Lip Gloss Set

November 5th, 2010 by Karen 65 Comments

karen of makeup and beauty blog wearing nars sweet revenge lipgloss from the follow the boys holiday 2010 set
NARS Sweet Revenge Lipgloss

Best part of my Friday: listening to Salt N’ Pepa’s Push It while watching Tabs lick his tummy. If you’ve ever watched a small dog or cat cross the street while listening to hip-hop in the car, you’ll know why I found it as funny as I did. 🙂

Ah, push it…

Second best part of my Friday: swatching the limited edition NARS Follow the Boys Lip Gloss Set ($40).

Sweet Revenge

Turkish Delight

Like the recent Crazy Heart holiday set, Follow the Boys comes with a selection of smaller-than-normal NARS glosses from the company’s permanent line, except in this set there are four instead of five — Turkish Delight (a creamy pale pink), Sweet Revenge (a shimmery peachy pink), Moon Fleet (a glittery gold) and Easy Lover (a sheer hot pink).
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My HiP Face of the Day with the L’Oreal Midnight Muse Eye Shadow Duos

November 4th, 2010 by Karen 39 Comments

karen of makeup and beauty blog wearing loreal midnight muse collection 1

As much as I love a good bargain, budget beauty doesn’t always deliver. With some drugstore beauty products, you just don’t know what caliber of quality you’re gonna get.

The HiP Eye Shadow duos we looked at last week from the new L’Oreal Midnight Muse collection showed a lot of promise, and you showed a lot of interest, so I took two of them (Enchantress and Darkwave) out for indoor test drives today.

Now I know why these HiP shadows have so many fans. 🙂

The matte and high-shine shimmer shadows in both duos are easy to blend and exhibit very little fallout. These are top-shelf drugstore beauty products. We’re talking glass case material here, like the kinds of products that deserve their own display at the very front of the beauty aisle.

loreal midnight muse review swatches photos fotd eye2
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The New LORAC Holiday Lip Gloss Collection Is Tie Dye For

November 4th, 2010 by Karen 32 Comments

karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing lorac shocking twist tie dye gloss
LORAC Tie Dye For Lip Gloss in Shocking Twist

In college I had a classmate who wore tie-dye jam band concert tees to chemistry class EVERY SINGLE DAY. I’d sit there trying to take notes with my four-color clicky pen (mind you, these were the days when pagers were “cutting edge”), but the shirt would call to me from the across time/space. “Karen,” it would whisper, “look over here. Stare into my magic swirls…”

When I would finally give in and steal a glance, I’d get trapped! — unable to look away.

Like I was being sucked into the swirls!

All this without ever having taken a bite of shirt dude’s “special” brownies, which he kindly offered to me before class on many occasions.

It’s all very The Yellow Wallpaper, I know, and by the end of the year I wound up with a full-blown case of tie-dye trauma!

But you know what they say, right? Time heals all wounds. And, now, thanks to the LORAC Tie Dye For Lip Gloss Collection ($25 for a set of five tubes), I can finally appreciate multi-colored swirls again. 🙂

lorac tie dye for lip gloss collection review swatches photos
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$5 Wet N Wild Color Icon Kits Were Built with Xmas Shopping in Mind

November 4th, 2010 by Karen 52 Comments

Wet N Wild Color Icon Kit in Sugar Plumb Fairy

I wonder how much it costs to mail a letter to the North Pole. I ask because I’d really like to thank Santa for releasing these Wet N Wild Color Icon Kits ($5) for the holidays.

Being just $5 each and coming with six coordinating shadows and a mini-eyeliner, the four kits give new meaning to the words, “travel friendly.”

Well, the liner’s nothing to write home about. I mean, it’s nicely pigmented, but it feels a little rigid against my skin. The shadows, on the other hand — oh, the shadows! Rich, bold and just as buildable as the the company’s fab Color Icon Singles.

Again, these are just $5, WOW!

Of the four kits — Sugar Plum Fairy, Golden Goddess, Snow Sprite and Night Elf — I’ve tested two of them so far.

Wet N Wild Color Icon Kit in Snow Sprite