Makeup

The other day Lilan over at the Daily Cookie asked me what was in my purse, so I pulled out my bag, took out one item at a time and wrote everything down in a list.

When I finished, I felt cleansed and pure, like the pocketbook gods had absolved me of all my purse-stuffing sins.

Not only was writing out this list strangely cathartic, it was also slightly alarming. Does one (relatively sane) woman really need to lug around all this crap?

Let me preface my list by saying that I AM NOT A HOBO. I just happened to get a big, slouchy purse a few months ago, thinking it would look chic. Sure, it’s cute, but it’s also heavier than a stuffed Thanksgiving turkey.

Right now my purse contains…

• one Blackberry smartphone
• one wallet
• one Goody stretchy headband (grey) for workouts
• two black ponytail holder thingies
• three bobby pins
• …and a partridge in a pair tree (just kidding!)
• one ticket stub for the movie Atonement
• one half-eaten box of Orbit Maui Melon Mint gum. Unfortunately, I haven’t felt like chewing this gum since the minty poo experience with Poof! drops a few weeks ago.
• two packages of DHC Vitamin C Powders (thanks Jessy)
• two black Pentel RSVP fine tipped pens. These pens are the SH*T!
• house and car keys
• a pair of dangly black freshwater pearl earrings
• a sheet of white Apple stickers (the computers, that is, not the makeup!)
• pepper spray
• two pieces of coral from the beach directly in front of where El Hub and I got married in Hawaii
• a W-9
• a Post-it with the phone number for Skates on the Bay, a restaurant in Berkeley
• one Lemon Zest Luna Bar
• one dark chocolate Ghirardelli chocolate square
• a tube of Elizabeth Arden 8-Hour hand cream
• a box of Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Maximum Coverage Concealer (unopened)
• one pearl necklace
• MAC Lychee Luxe Lipglass
• Vincent Longo Illumina Concealer Stick #3
• CHANEL Rouge Allure in Exquise
• CHANEL Glossimer in Galactic
• CHANEL Gloss Creme Lumiere in Petite Four
• MAC Pink Treat Cremestick Liner
• MAC Blot pressed powder in medium dark
• last week’s pay stub
• a Christmas card from my Grandma
• one bag of Cherry Honey Ricola cough drops
• MAC Lipglass in Nico Now
• one binder clip
• one 2008 Monet day calendar
• one “To Do” list with 34 frickin’ tasks on it!

Yep… That’s about it. Oh, and yesterday there was also one Fuji apple in there but I ate it.

What can I say? I like to make lists, and I’m also a bit of a voyeur (but not in a pervy way, dirty birdies). Now it’s your turn!

What’s in your purse?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Origins’ new spring makeup colors remind me of the time I hiked through a thick bamboo jungle on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. Each nature-inspired shade harkens back to the tall stalks of bamboo that surrounded me, reaching high into the sky above, and the rich, brown earth beneath my feet.

The release contains four lush eyeshadows ($13.50 each) and one juicy blush ($17.50).

• Coral Reef Brush-on Color blush – pink-orange with a touch of gold sparkle
• Brazil Nut Origins Eyeshadow – gold-brown matte
• Sun Tan Origins Eyeshadow – warm beige matte
• Palm Tree Origins Eyeshadow – light khaki green matte
• Lemonade Origins Eyeshadow – cool beige-yellow shimmer

What to buy, and what to skip…

Girrrrl, I *hate* matte shadows, but I loved the mattes in this release. Brazil Nut, Sun Tan and Palm Tree are the best matte shadows I’ve ever used, hands down. I used to think I was missing a special makeup gene because for the life of me I could never blend matte shadows properly, but the creamy formula and smooth application of these shadows makes it very easy for even a klutz like yours truly to transition colors seamlessly into each other. No harsh lines, hooray!

Be warned: if you like intense eye color, then with these bad boys you’ll have to apply multiple layers. Brazil Nut reminds me of a slightly darker matte version of my holy grail MAC Soba eyeshadow, and Sun Tan is a perfect neutral shade for browbones. My favorite one, though, is Palm Tree, a rich khaki green that really made my brown eyes pop.

The color I expected to fall in love with, Lemonade, actually ended up being my least favorite eyeshadow of the bunch! Its grainy texture left me uninspired.

Last, but not least, there’s Coral Reef, a worthy addition to my blush collection. I know in the swatch above it looks a little sheer, but after a couple layers it produced that “I’m hiking through a bamboo jungle” flush.

Here’s a shot of me wearing Coral Reef…

On the eyes in this look I used Sun Tan on the browbone, Brazil Nut in the crease, Palm Tree on the lid and Lemonade in the inner corner of the eye. On my lips I used MAC Lychee Luxe lipglass.

I’m totally enamored with these shadows and think this natural look is going into heavy makeup rotation for the next few weeks. It might be winter outside, but at least I can feel like spring on the inside, yes?

The Origins spring colors will be available at Origins Retail stores, select department stores and online at Origins.com next month.

Are you ready for Friday? I sure am. Tomorrow night, El Hub and I are going to watch Cloverfield, the new monster movie. That should be … interesting. And hopefully this weekend, if it’s sunny and not too cold, I’m going hiking through the thick, bamboo jungles of Marin. Okay, just kidding about the bamboo jungle part, but I will look for a few nice waterfalls to admire (there are a few in Marin, who knew?) ’cause they’re the closest I can get to Hawaii right now.

I hope you had a faboo day and that you’re smiling.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

I was vegetating on the couch the other day, watching my upmteenth hour of the America’s Next Top Model marathon on MTV, when El Hub walked by and said, “Did you do something different today? Your face looks so bright and glowy.”

At the time, I was wearing something new, a mix of two Shu Uemura Glow On blushes, M Brown 73 and P Gold 93D.

Now, El Hub knows jack diddly squat about makeup, so the fact that he noticed was enough for me to conclude that Glow On blush lives up to its name. The products are so finely milled that that they’re absorbed into the skin, never leaving an obvious or painted look, to a degree rarely seen in a powder like this. They give me a just-pinched-your-cheeks flush, like I’m not wearing any makeup at all. I am in love with these blushes!

How to get the glow…

Getting a natural but subtle glow with these bad boys is really easy once you get the hang of the application. For the look that got El Hub’s attention, I used two blushes: M Brown 73 (a warm, peachy-brown matte) and P Gold 93 D (a pearl gold shimmer).

First, I applied three layers of M Brown 73 on the apples of my cheeks and blended them upward into the hairline with a blush brush, like the Shu Uemura Natural Brush 20 cheek brush.

Then, using a cheek brush with a smaller brush head like the Shu Uemura Natural Brush 14, I applied two layers of P Gold 93 D to my upper cheeks (underneath the outer corner of each eye) with a smaller cheek brush to create a subtle highlight.

Glow On matte blushes like M Brown 73 are highly pigmented, so every stroke of your brush across the pan will leave lots of color. To achieve a subtle look, I tapped excess color out of the brush before each application and used multiple layers to avoid overly dark, crazy clown cheeks.

To dilute the brown, I swiped the brush across the blush pan once and tapped it against the side of the sink (or brush a piece of tissue). Then, I carefully applied the blush to my cheeks with a light touch and blended out the edges. I did this two more times (you might have to do it less if you’re lighter than I am) until I got the flushed, natural color I was shooting for.

Glow On blushes with a shimmer finish, like P Gold 93 D, are slightly less pigmented than the mattes. They still have a lot of color, though, so remember to tap out the excess from your brush if you still want your cheeks to look natural.

Side note: I know that when I first started using blush I had the tendency to use a heavy hand. I’d always end up with too much color on my brush and on my cheeks, so if you’re a blush newbie, take extra care to apply the color lightly.

Packaging woes…

Although Shu Uemura blushes are superior for color, their packaging is another story. While the clear lids are handy (I never have to flip the blush over to read what color is on the label) and the blushes are compact and great for travel, the overall packaging is flimsy. I accidentally dropped Brown 73 once and the hinge broke. Now the jar doesn’t close properly, and I can’t travel with it unless I secure it wish a rubber band.

If more hinges break on more of Shu’s blushes (which is likely because I’m always dropping stuff), I’m going to transfer the blush pans to a palette. The process of removing a blush pan from its clear casing is easy. If you remove the sticker on the back of the blush jar, you’ll see two small holes, each located on opposite sides of the back of the blush pan. Working on one hole at a time, insert a push pin carefully and push until you release the pan from the package. Voila! Your blush is ready for repotting in its new home.

Fun facts about blush…

• In the 1920s blush was called rouge, and the style of the day was to wear rouge on the apples of one’s cheeks in distinctive, cartoony circles clearly visible to the naked eye.
• During the Victorian Age in Britain, makeup was associated with low morals (LOL!), so instead of wearing makeup, women of virtue would pinch their cheeks.
• Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks used ingredients like crushed mulberries, red beet juice and crushed strawberries to make blush.
• Both men and women wore blush during the English Regency period in the early-1800s.

What blush are you wearing today? Whatever it is, I hope you’re working it!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Yesterday was brutal and I’m still sick as a dog, so after work I acquired goodies to bolster my immune system: a humongous bag of Ricola Cough Drops, Theraflu (blech!) and Chanel Teint Innocence Cream Compact Foundation, YES!

Okay, okay, so I know compact foundation will do absolutely zip when it comes to clearing up my congestion, but the retail therapy ’twas priceless. For a very brief and shining moment, I felt almost like a real girl.

Chanel Teint Innocence Compact Foundation ($55) is the newest incarnation of Chanel’s award winning Teint Innocence liquid (in this case, cream) foundations. It comes in a signature Chanel black compact with a separate James Bond-esque secret compartment for the sponge applicator. Chanel might have saved us all a few duckets on the packaging, though, because every makeup artist at the counter advised me not to apply the product with the included sponge, which they said causes caking. Only use the included sponge if you’re on-the-go or for simple touch-ups. To really look like a star, use a traditional foundation brush, instead.

A few months ago I tried the liquid version of Teint Innocence in the Soft Honey shade but wasn’t moved by it because it felt heavy and gave my face a greasy, disco-ball glow. The color was also a little off (too yellow) for me.

But the compact foundation has the liquid beat. My shade, 50 Natural, matches my skin tone almost perfectly. It’s just the tiniest bit too yellow.

Texture wise, the cream version feels lighter than the liquid did. It’s weightless. I don’t feel it sitting on top of my skin. I also like light coverage, so I put on just enough to even out my skin tone, but if I want medium coverage for a more dramatic look, I can still put on multiple layers without it suffocating my pores.

Oh, and the greasy disco ball factor? Very low. There is a slight shimmer, but it’s subtle and pretty.

I usually set foundation with loose powder, but I’ve heard that some women skip powder entirely when using this product. My skin gets oily as the day goes on, so I’ll just have to experiment to see what works best.

I’m using a traditional foundation brush (the MAC 190) with this but can’t wait to try a few other brushes with it as well. Woo hoo! I’m starting to feel better already!

Free Lauryn Hill!

When I drove to the mall to pick up my compact yesterday it was pouring. Traffic was ugly. I was stuck in the car for an obscenely long time and popped in Lauryn Hill’s classic CD, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” which I haven’t listened to in years. The song Everything is Everything started playing, and it hit me that this CD is really freaking amazing.

What is it with artists making brilliant, shining solo debuts only to disappear into oblivion afterwards? I don’t know what L Boogie as been up to (I suppose she’s raising her babies), but I wish she’d make more music for us (me!). Come on, girl, pick up that pen and start writing lyrics again!

Fake it ’til you make it

Over the past few days my cold turned me into a lazy beast. To at least look like I feel great, I’ve rubbed some color onto the apples of my cheeks using Prescriptives Blush More or Less Cream Blush ($21.50) in Nantucket Dune, a soft bronze with a faint golden shimmer. Even sick, we can still feel pretty.

Prescriptives Blush More or Less in Nantucket Dune

I really like this blush’s staying power. Some cream blushes feel slick and emollient and just slide off my cheeks, but Blush More or Less stays put all day long. I get a nice glow without looking overly made-up.

Just use clean fingers to apply it directly on your cheeks. The color glides on and isn’t splotchy at all. You shouldn’t have to do much blending, which is a big plus when you’re coughing and can’t hold a brush steady to save your life.

Mavericks, here I come (kinda)

Ya’ll ready for the weekend? If I were feeling a little better, I’d love to go to Mavericks to watch the 2008 big wave surf competition. Cindy, my surfing buddy, is leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow to watch folks ride dirty on those 20-foot waves. It’s in Half Moon Bay, which is just South of San Francisco. I, however, will be watching from the comfort of my couch via live webcast.

I hope you haven’t caught the nasty cold that’s going around. Stay healthy, please.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen