Makeup

Blue Skies Smiling at Me: A Face of the Day with the Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

October 25th, 2010 by Karen 40 Comments

karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing the bobbi brown crystal eye palette top

You know you’re from California when you’re already complaining about the weather after the first rains of the season. You see, I’m a certified weather wimp, and I was over the moon this morning when I looked out the windows and saw blue skies.

Tabs was even happier than I was because it meant he’d be able to go outside again after being cooped up all weekend long, and the first thing we did was go for a nice, long walk.

While he mouth mowed his favorite patch of grass, I gazed up at the sky and thought, “blue…” I know! — I’ll do a blue eye look with maybe a dash of purple to celebrate the day.

karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing the bobbi brown crystal eye palette 2

Right away I knew I wanted to use the Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette from the Holiday 2010 Collection.

bobbi brown holiday 2010 crystal eye palette shadows
The Bobbi Brown Crystal Eye Palette

She’s the party girl of the release and the brightest of BB’s holiday eye sets, with four fun, shimmery powder shadows in purple, lilac, off-white and teal.
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Saturday Surfing and Scarab Beetles

October 23rd, 2010 by Karen 10 Comments

Photo by Eye of Einstein

Good morning, girl. Can I run something by you? I’m working on a new song called Water Makes the Cats Go Cray-Cray, and it goes a little something like this (HIT IT!):

Rain been fallin’ all week long
Been stuck inside ever so long
Yearnin’ for a change

Turkeys walkin’ past my window
My assistant doesn’t get my lingo
It’s time for me to bust a move
And break out of this funky groove

Cats like me don’t like the rain
But not because it’s such a pain
We just need more to entertain
Our minds before we go insane
Sing it with me now!

Meow, meow, meow, meow
Meow, meow, meow
Meow, meow, meow, meow
Meow, meow, meow

No kidding, Tabs has gone full-on crazy! The rain’s turned my sweet tabby into a 15-pound terror. He runs around the condo like he’s being chased by invisible dogs and chirps at the windows incessantly as if he’s talking to the clouds.

I know he wants outside, but when we have gone out, he won’t walk because everything’s so wet. He’s caught in a kitty catch-22.

Speaking of things bugging Tabs, I was sure he’d like the creepy crawly scarab beetle decorating these products from Illamasqua’s new 15-piece Art of Darkness collection, but I was wrong. I think the packaging totally works, but Tabs disagrees. What do you think?

illamasqua art of darkness

illamasqua art of darkness
Clockwise from bottom left: Pure Pigment in Ore, Pure Pigment in Alluvium, Intense Lipgloss in Hermetic, False Lashes No. 23, Lipstick in Disciple, Liquid Metal in Resolute

illamasqua art of darkness
Lipstick in Disciple

illamasqua art of darkness
Swatches from left: Pure Pigment in Ore, Pure Pigment in Alluvium, Liquid Metal in Resolute

illamasqua art of darkness
Liquid Metal in Resolute, Intense Lipgloss in Hermetic, Lipstick in Disciple

I’m not sure what to make of the blue lipstick… Would you wear it? Wait — before you answer, there’s a break in the storm! Care to catch some e-waves with me? I gotta get my cardio while I can. 😉

Saturday Surfing: Sites I Surfed Today

Add this to the list of things that make you go, “What the frak!?” (right after man Spanx): a hair salon where the stylists are all topless. Um, yikes!
Man, I was really hoping I’d never see these Freddy Krueger nails again, but I guess that was too much to hope for.
When I worked at a literary agency (let me tell you — A LOT goes into those book covers), I got to see how books are made from start to finish. Here’s a historical look at the evolution of book covers for classic kids novels like Sweet Valley High. Neat to see how styles, colors, fonts and illustrations have/haven’t changed…
Cat eyes are having a major moment right now. Here’s how to get the look in two easy steps!

Have a great day today! Hope you find some time to just relax. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

NYX Special Effects Lashes: Crazy False Lashes at a Crazy Good Price

October 22nd, 2010 by Karen 35 Comments

karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing nyx special effects lashes in leopard

Wow, how fun are these NYX Special Effects Lashes ($10; available in 40 styles)? I’m building up the courage to wear the brown spotted Leopard ones out in public, and I’m almost there. I’m thinking mall date, perhaps?

Electric blue Midnight Walts is another story… I’m reserving that one for private, in-home displays of cray-cray. I feel trÃ¨s Looney Tunes with ’em on, not gonna lie.

I love how many there are to choose from (40 in all), and at $10, they’re $5 cheaper than the freakiest $15 Urban Decay Urban Lashes and half the cost of falsies from Shu Uemura (which are great, I might add).

NYX Special Effects Lashes Review

NYX Special Effects Lashes Review leopard

NYX Special Effects Lashes Review leopard midnight walts
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Benefit Instant Brow: I Ain’t Afraid of No Ghost…Brows

October 22nd, 2010 by Karen 34 Comments

Benefit Instant Brow Pencil

ghost brows |gohst brouz|
noun
1 A phrase which has come to mean “sparse brows,” but in my particular case describes brows that start dense above my nose but fade away as they taper toward my ears : ooh, that girl’s got some ghost brows!

Chock it up to Halloween and/or my overactive imagination, but I’m convinced I’m being haunted by a kleptomaniac makeup ghost — one with a weird brow fetish! For real, though!

To fill my brows I usually reach for two things: MAC Concrete Eyeshadow and the 266 Small Angle Brush. But then my pan of Concrete went missing a few weeks ago, and now I can’t find my 266!

Something wicked this way comes…

But whatever malevolent force is at work, it motivated me to try the Benefit Instant Brow Pencil ($20).

karen from makeup and beauty blog reviews benefit instant brow pencil
I ain’t afraid of no ghost…brows!

This dual-tipped brow saver’s been a member of the Benefit fam for quite some time. On one side, a soft pencil to fill sparse brows; on the other, a spoolie brush for brow blending. It comes in three shades — Light, Medium and Deep. The one I use is Medium, a creamy dark brown.
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Dior Holiday 2010: Be a Peach with the Endless Shine Quint

October 20th, 2010 by Karen 24 Comments

karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing dior holiday 2010 endless shine 529

What up, buttercup? How was hump day? Mine was pretty peachy, thank you very much, and I owe it all to Dior Endless Shine.

We spent the afternoon together, you know, just frolicking like cherubs with cameras. Turns out the holiday quint, one of two in Dior’s Holiday 2010 Collection, is quite the budding photographer.

“Karen,” it cooed, gently petting the peach shade in the upper right corner, “look at me.”

“Huh?”

“Now look away!”

“Wha?”

“Now look at me. LOOK AT ME!”

“Are you sure?”

“LOOK AT ME!”

“Okay, okay, I’m looking!”

“Yes! Like that. Look, LOOK!”

“I’m looking, dude. Are you okay?”

“Now look away!”

dior holiday 2010 makeup swatches review 529
Dior 5-Colour Iridescent Eyeshadow Quint in Endless Shine #529, $58

Hmm, is it bad when you hear voices coming from eyeshadow palettes?

I hope not. 🙂

karen from makeup and beauty blog wearing dior holiday 2010 endless shine 529

With the peach shade demanding so much of my attention today, it only seemed right to build a look around it, so I picked out some complementary bits o’ holiday makeup from Chanel, NARS, MAC and Dolce & Gabbana and put together this here face of the day.
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Dolce & Gabbana Evocative Collection Swatches and Pics

October 19th, 2010 by Karen 38 Comments

Smooth Eye Colour Quad in Evocative and Crayon Intense in Chocolate on my eyes; Shine Lipstick in Orchid and Ultra Shine Lipgloss in Vibrant on my lips

While I was cruising down (Saks) Fifth Avenue today, otherwise known as surfing their site (they’re having a Friends & Family Sale; I didn’t come across the new Ethereal Holiday Collection, but I did window shop almost everything from the Evocative Collection for fall.

I’m not sure how Evocative’s vampiric berries, wines and pinks go with her springy blues and that one totally random coral, but being confused has never stopped me before, ha!

I’ll just try to wrap my head around something tangible…like the ultra pigmented, creamy coral Classic Cream Lipstick in Cosmopolitan and Shine Lipstick in Orchid. They should help me focus, but if I’m still out of sorts after that, the buttery soft and sheer beige, pink, taupe and purple shadows in the quad should help.

dolce gabbana evocative collection
The Dolce & Gabbana Evocative Collection for fall 2010 (clockwise from lower right): Smooth Eye Colour Quad in Divine, Classic Cream Lipstick in Cosmopolitan, Shine Lipstick in Orchid, Classic Cream Lipstick in Lust, Shine Lipstick in Amethyst, Smooth Eye Colour Duo in Evocative, Smooth Eye Colour Duo in Ocean, Crayon Intense in Chocolate, Crayon Intense in Onyx, Intense Nail Lacquer in Cosmopolitan, Ultra Shine Lipgloss in Amethyst, Ultra Shine Lipgloss in Vibrant

Dolce & Gabbana Evocative Collection Swatches and Pics

(For reference, I’m an NC35 in MAC foundation)

dolce-gabbana-divine
Smooth Eye Colour Quad in Divine, $59

dolce gabbana ocean
Smooth Eye Colour Duo in Ocean, $36
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Could Guerlain Rouge G Le Brilliant Bee the Lipstick You’ve Been Looking For?

October 18th, 2010 by Karen 86 Comments

Puttin’ on a happy face with Guerlain Rouge G Le Brilliant in Bee

You’re probably expecting this to be a lead about makeup (a logical assumption), but I spent the better part of the afternoon at my obstetrician’s office today, and I’m a wee bit emotional right now.

Before you jump to any conclusions, it was just a checkup. 🙂 Thankfully everything’s working fine (knock on wood!), but I’ve been thinking a lot about kids lately. The doc looked straight in the eyes and said, “Get cracking.”

It’s weird — sometimes I feel like I’m ready; other times I’m not so sure. To my makeup lovin’ moms out there, how did you know it was time?

After my appointment, I felt like I needed a tube of makeup TLC, and it came in the form of limited edition Guerlain Rouge G Le Brilliant lipstick in B64 Bee.

guerlain les ors holiday 2010 rouge g le brilliant b64 bee case
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Come in from the Rain in the Open Thread

October 17th, 2010 by Karen 122 Comments

Yowza! The seasons changed right before my eyes. Yesterday it was sunny and warm, but here’s what it looks like outside my window today…

I can’t believe it. Yesterday was t-shirt and jeans weather, le sigh.

It’s days like this when I wish we were neighbors. You could come over, I’d make some tea and we could tease Tabs while we watched Lifetime and talked about makeup all afternoon.

On a different note, what do you think about beauty companies that donate a portion of sales to charity? I ask because this being October it’s all over the place right now, which is great, right? But sometimes when I do the math, I’m a little disappointed.

I’ve worn, purchased and written about several pink BCA products lately from Sonia Kashuk, Estee Lauder and Clinique, and yesterday I actually wore one on my mall/movie day with El Hub — Revlon’s Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Pink Pursuit SPF 15 ($7). It’s a fragrance- and flavor-free, shimmery pink gloss with sheer pigmentation and a non-sticky texture. Revlon released it special for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and they’ll donate 10% of the price of it to breast cancer research (up to $100,000/year).

That sounds generous to me — 10%. After you subtract the cost to make, distribute and market it, 10% sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but sometimes I wonder if some of these companies could go even further. I’m betting most of them make serious bank, and my cynical side (yes, I do have a cynical side) can’t help but wonder how much of the decision to donate is market-driven and how much is really altruistic.

If I ran a big beauty company, I’d love to start something like MAC’s Viva Glam and the MAC AIDS Fund. Not only do they donate every cent (that’s 100%) from every tube of Viva Glam lipstick sold, but it generates money and raises awareness year round. Regardless of their motives, they’re not just talking the talk one month/year. They’re doing something tangible on a daily basis.

I’d like to hear your thoughts in the open thread, but if you’d rather talk about something else, that’s cool too.

Makeup and Beauty Blog Open Thread If you’re new to the open thread, here it is in a nutshell:

It’s a chat fest where we elucidate (ha!) on makeup, movies, books (I just started reading Meg Cabot’s Vanished last night), life, spaghetti tacos, Jersey Shore — you name it.

Stop by anytime. I’ll pour you a cup of tea and save you a spot on the couch.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen