Makeup

The New NARS Exposed Collection: Swatches, Quick Look

February 12th, 2019 by Karen 19 Comments

Exposed! — a new collection from NARS — is NOT (I hope) named after flashers, because I was flashed several times when I lived in San Francisco, and let me tell ya…it ain’t pretty, folks.

This collection, on the other hand, is gorge. ? There’s a new $59 six-pan blush palette (a.k.a. the Explicit Cheek Palette) with an allegedly new NARS formula and three mini lip kits (called the Explicit Lip Duos), with a matte pencil and a shiny gloss and $22 each, all coming to the Ulta website, and very likely other places on/after, February 17.

nars exposed collection swatches — Swatches of the Cheek Palette and the Lip Duos

nars exposed cheek palette — Exposed Cheek Palette

nars exposed collection 2 — Clockwise from the lower left: Explicit Color Lip Duo in Intimate, Explicit Color Lip Duo in Sex Machine, Exposed Cheek Palette and Explicit Color Lip Duo in Dragon Girl

In other news…

Chapter 27 in the never-ending saga that is my teeth…

Yay! I have to go to the dentist again! ?

My bite has been funky since my last filling, and it hurts when I chomp down on my right side, which is not at all amusing when you’re mildly addicted to ? eating carrots (especially baby carrots).

Speaking of carrots, what’s up, doc? ? How are you doing today?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The New Urban Decay Naked Reloaded Palette

February 11th, 2019 by Karen 15 Comments

Dude, can you believe UD’s O.G. Naked Palette is almost 10 years old?

Wait — should that be in the past tense? Because UD phased out the O.G. Naked (RIP). They replaced it with Naked Reloaded, which’ll be out in less than week!

Overview

What is it? Naked Reloaded replaces the now-defunct Naked Palette. It has 12 powder eyeshadows, and four of the pans — satiny beige Bribe, shimmery golden Barely Baked, matte orange-brown Boundaries and matte peachy beige Blur — contain more product than the others. Those are the shades UD thinks you’ll use the most.
How much is it? ~~I haven’t confirmed this yet, but I’m guessing it’ll be $54, which is how much UD charges for the other Naked Palettes in the permanent collection.~~ It’s $44.
Who’s it for? According to UD, errrrrbody, because the colors and textures are supposed to work for every age, gender and skin tone.
When can you get it? February 18th on the UD website and at Urban Decay stores, March 4th on the Sephora and Ulta websites, and March 7th at Sephora and Ulta stores.
How is it different than the original Naked? Reloaded has more mid-toned warm browns and fewer cooler, darker shades like grays and taupes. It also doesn’t have a dual-ended liner or a brush, and then there are the four larger pans.
Is it like any of the other Naked palettes? Yup, I think so. Naked Reloaded is like a warmer, powered-up Naked on the Run (without the cheek and lip products), with lots of mid-toned colors to make it versatile. The color temps are warm like Naked Heat, but nowhere near as red.
What about the eyeshadow formula? It’s what I’ve come to expect from UD eyeshadows. They’re soft and silky with fluffy powder particles that like to fly when I touch one of the pans with a brush. Based on a prelim arm swatch, most of them feel smooth, except for Angel Fire, which has huskier glitter than the other shimmers, so it’s on the chunky side.
What about that orange? MAN, I’m so over UD’s obsession with orange in their eye palettes… I like orange eyeshadow well enough, but it keeps popping up everywhere, and I’d just assume see something else in place of it.

urban decay naked reloaded swatches tan skin — I’m an NC42 in MAC.

urban decay naked reloaded swatches — Please note the Taylor Swift-ian references…

urban decay naked reloaded — In paw for scale…

Oh, and pardon me for going all X-Files for a moment, but IT’S CONSPIRACY THEORY TIME! Here’s why I think Reputation and End Game, two of the colors, sound like Taylor Swift song references to me: Because I think someone at UD is secretly weighing in on the Taylor Swift vs. Kim/Kanye feud that hit a couple years ago… Or maybe I’m writing too much into it, LOL!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Bay Area Beauty Love: Benefit They’re Real! Red On! Matte Lip Color

February 8th, 2019 by Karen 13 Comments

Yay for the Bay! In this series, for the month of February 2019, I’ll be featuring products from and around my stomping grounds, the San Francisco Bay Area.

This new matte cream lipstick from Benefit (a brand headquartered in the SF Bay Area) is the real deal. I would say “Get red-y for it” if I were a fan of puns (ha ha!), but instead, I’ll just do my best to describe it. It’s a red-olent, red-onkulously easy-to-wear matte red lipstick called They’re Real! Red On! Matte Lip Color, and it’s $20 and comes with its own little lip brush, which sits in that divot that goes across the pan.

Super fun and perhaps borderline gimmicky? Check and check. But it’s actually really good, and reds are hard, man. Especially opaque matte reds lipsticks like this. Most fall into the trap of being so bold and pigmented that they leave you no room for error, and the moment your lip edge goes wonky, there’s no turning back. I know that, at least for me, this is a turnoff, and it keeps me from wearing red very often.

Because — hello! — LAZINESS.

benefit theyre real red on swatch — R U red-y for it?

But Red On makes matte red lips easy, and not simply because of the little lip brush it comes with. You can actually apply this matte cream with a lip brush OR your fingers, and either way, it looks on point.

Believe it or not, I just applied it with a finger in this picture here. I just kinda smooshed it around, and it turned out perfectly.

The formula feels almost like a cream-to-powder formula, and the powder-i-ness (?) enables you to fudge the edges a little if you need to. So, even if your lip lines aren’t super precise, they won’t look that way (the whole world doesn’t have to know it, amirite?).

Red On also feels light and nice on my lips, and it doesn’t dry out my kisser or creep beyond the edges.

What a delightful surprise, really. 🙂 I think it’s a hidden gem in the Benefit permanent line.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. TGIF!!!!

Bay Area Beauty Love: Benefit Gogo Tint

February 7th, 2019 by Karen 8 Comments

Yay for the Bay! In this series, for the month of February 2019, I’ll be featuring products from and around my stomping grounds, the San Francisco Bay Area.

Question of the day: Is the “gogo” in Benefit Gogo Tint a shout-out to the Wham song or a shout-out to gogo dancers?

Neither? Both?

Seeing as how the very first Benefit stain was a nipple tint made for exotic dancers…I’m gonna go-go with option B, ha ha!

It’s been a minute since I’ve worn one of these. They’re $30 liquid lip and cheek stains, and this newest member is a vibrant matte cherry red that looks like an intensified version of the original Benetint I loved like heck in my early 20s.

benefit gogo tint 2 — Wake me up before you Gogo!

Gogo Tint isn’t as watery as the O.G. one. The liquid formula is milkier and creamier (similar to the ChaCha and Lolli tints). The thicker consistency makes Gogo user-friendlier because, unlike the original, it doesn’t immediately drip or roll down your cheeks. It’s also smoother and easier to blend.

I also feel like the slightly creamy consistency makes it less patchy than the more viscous original and easier to blend, which I usually do with my fingers.

Like all of the Benefit Tints, you can wear Gogo on your lips, too. It’s a bright matte red that looks like just-kissed lips, and it’s beautiful if you can get it to apply evenly. Although I appreciate its multitasking prowess, I’m not fond of wearing it on my lips because the tint grabs on to the center areas more than the outer edges, so I end up with an unintentional edgy gradient effect.

I mean, it would be cooler if I were a high-fashion gal, but when I’m out and about in a sweatshirt, stretchy pants and messy bun, as I am 99% of the time…it just looks like I forgot to touch up after lunch.

More deets…

Wear time is about 5-6 hours.
Doesn’t taste or smell like anything.
A little drying on the lips, but not drying on my cheeks, though.
Best on bare skin or skin prepped with BB or CC cream, or tinted moisturizer , can be streaky on a full-coverage base).
Always make sure that the cap is sealed shut; otherwise, it could spill all over your makeup bag.

benefit gogo tint swatch — Gogo Tint, blended (top) and unblended (bottom)

I see this as a great blush for low-maintenance gals and a good option for first-time blush wearers, or anyone who likes makeup that doesn’t look powdery or obvious. A large 0.33-oz. bottle is $30, and a travel-sized 0.13-oz. mini is $12. You can find Gogo at Benefit stores, Ulta and Sephora.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. Geez, why are these chairs so comfortable? Is it the chair, the shave ice, the hibiscus flowers around them, the fancy swimming pool? Or all of the above?

Aloha again! This has been a very low-key trip so far with a definite lack of adventure sports and water activities. Yup. Connor, El Hub and I all came down with viruses, so we haven’t been pushing the envelope in terms of activities, but it’s still been wonderful to just hang out, rest and take in the atmosphere (and consume large quantities of shave ice, fresh papaya and pineapple).

I’m gonna go get another shave ice now. What can I get you? You can mix ‘n match any flavors you want…

Banana, Vanilla, Bubble Gum, Cherry Coconut Cotton Candy, Watermelon, Grape, (Sour) Green Apple, Green Tea, Guava, Yuzu, Lemon, Lemonade, Li Hing Mui, White Cake, Lilikoi (Passionfruit), Lime, Mango, Lychee, Melon, Mizore, Orange, Papaya, Pickled Mango, Piña Colada, Pineapple, Raspberry, Root Beer, Strawberry, Peach, Ume, Banana Cream, Coconut Cream, Strawberry Cream

(*Cream flavors have condensed milk pre-mixed into the syrup.)

Sugar-Free Banana, Sugar-Free Strawberry, Sugar-Free Vanilla

Super Fun, Free and Hella Sweaty Workout Videos!

February 6th, 2019 by Karen 10 Comments

LOL. In my mind, I can hear my friend Cindy kinda laughing at me for saying this, but I’m gonna go ahead and say it anyway.

I love working out.

I really do! Granted, the fact that I work at a desk, and it’s very sedentary, probably has something to do with it. When I’m not working, it feels good to actually utilize my body.

I love that loosey-goosey feeling I get from dancing or running or stretching, especially in my upper back and my shoulders, where I hold a lot of my tension… Ahem! Pardon me while I pump out some quick shrugs.

I am not a gym rat, though. I used to be much more so (Gold’s Gym was my jam back in the day), and I still go to a gym a couple times a week because my HIIT class is held in one, but I don’t spend an inordinate amount of time there because, ya know…I got stuff to do.

So I do most of my workouts at home now in my living room watching a YouTube video on the TV.

Thank goodness for YouTube…

I’m always looking for new workout videos, too, if you have any recommendations for me, but here are the ones I’ve been into lately…

This first one is a dance video, and even if you’ve never taken a dance class in your life, I think this one is SO MUCH FUN. It’s 40 minutes long, but yet those minutes just fly by.

By the end of it, you’ll be drenched in sweat (a good thing in this case). Also, your “bootyshake” will be #legit.

I’m not kidding.

Also, I just started doing pilates, and we as yet have a kind of complicated relationship… I mean, I like it, but it’s soooo much harder than it looks.

While it might seem like you’re just laying down on a mat, which you might think would be somewhat chill, yeah…no. It’s very challenging for me, which I like. Plus, I’m in my living room, so who’s gonna judge??

In these two beginner tutorials, which are examples of what I can handle at the moment, there’s a ton of core work, lots of legs, lots of booty, and lots of upper body exercises. By the end of one of these, I’m wasted, even though there aren’t any high-impact jumping or running moves.

The thing is, though…I have to really concentrate and totally BE IN IT when I’m doing these video because I have to constantly remember to squeeze certain muscle groups, so it does require paying attention.

So these aren’t the kind of videos you’d do when you just wanna zone out…

Now, those HIIT classes I take two times a week, I’m not gonna lie… In those classes, everyone there is freakin’ real deal, and I struggle to keep up. Everyone is so intense, and they’re in good shape, and I have to push hard to keep up with the rest of the class, so in my other workouts during the week, I can’t always push so hard. I need some easier, less intense workouts too, you know? And this workout is one of those perfect low-impact cardio workouts, but I’m hesitant to call it “easy,” in air quotes, because I’m still sweating like a mofo by the end of the 30 minutes.

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Bay Area Beauty Love: Benefit Punch Pop!

February 5th, 2019 by Karen 5 Comments

Yay for the Bay! In this series, for the month of February 2019, I’ll be featuring products from and around my stomping grounds, the San Francisco Bay Area.

My idea of the perfect party punch involves strawberries, and if they aren’t in there in copious amounts (mashed or sliced, doesn’t matter to me), I’m out. There’s a Strawberry version in the new-ish Benefit Punch Pops, so YAY for me and my red berry addiction, which I blame on a childhood spent obsessing over Strawberry Shortcake (the doll, not the dessert…although I do love both).

For the life of me, I can’t figure out why the boxes say “Liquid Lip Color,” when really, this new-ish line, which came out last fall, is made up of straight-up lipglosses.

*shrugs*

Slightly confusing marketing aside, the glosses are fun, functional and best of all, cute, which is what Benefit, a beauty brand based outta SF (my old stomping grounds!), does best.

This line of non-sticky, full-pigment glosses is supposed to be cheeky and fun and not meant to be taken too seriously. You stick one in your purse, wear it everyday for two weeks straight, and then after that, occasionally take it out whenever you do a deep dive into your bag (“Oh, so THAT’S where it went!”) and touch up with it before moving onto the next thing.

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Fresh Friday: Hungry for Color? This Indie Makeup Line Names Palettes After Tasty Treats!

February 1st, 2019 by Karen 6 Comments

dominique cosmetics berries and cream — Looks good enough to eat! (But don’t.)

MBB’s “Fresh Friday” series takes a look at new beauty brands (and venerable O.G. brands that are new to me). Let’s discover new makeup!

OK, so I like to think that I’m NOT ruled by my stomach, buuuut the fact that the eyeshadow palette I rocked yesterday is called Berries & Cream may or may not have something to do with why I like wearing it. ?

Berries & Cream is from Dominique Cosmetics, a new-to-me indie makeup line by YouTuber Christen Dominique. Christen has just over four million subscribers, so she’s kinda Internet famous (to put it mildly).

Dominique Cosmetics has products spread out among three mini sub-collections, and each of the eyeshadow palettes in them are named after something delicious. There’s Berries & Cream, Latte and Lemonade).

YUM! A girl after my own food-lovin’ ~~tummy~~ heart.

I wore the Berries & Cream palette to lunch yesterday with a friend, who asked, “That, on your eyes? Are you wearing purple or burgundy?”

By the way, she asked me this after we’d been talking for an hour, LOL!

I was like, “Girl, I’m not sure! I was hoping it would distract you from the white hairs sticking up every which way!”

dominique cosmetics berries and cream collection swatches — Swatches of the Berries & Cream palette eyeshadows and matte liquid lipsticks

dominiuqe cosmetics plum berry lipstick — Wearing Creamy Matte Liquid Lip in Plum Berry on my lips and the Berries & Cream palette on my lids.

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Ravenous for Red Lipstick: Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick

January 31st, 2019 by Karen 14 Comments

Valentine’s Day ? is right around the corner, so this is a purr-fect time to celebrate that most sanguine of seductresses — scarlet! The Ravenous for Red Lipstick series features the crimsons I’m currently cuckoo for.

Your makeup fun fact of the day: Beso, as in the name of Stila’s stunning Beso lipstick, means “kiss” in Spanish.

MWAH!

I actually kissed everyone in sight while I was wearing this lipstick yesterday.

OK, maybe not everyone… I didn’t think the grumpy checkout lady at Target would appreciated it, but Tabs got a smattering of kisses on the top of his head (right between the ears is the sweet spot), Connor got a few tummy kisses, and El Hub got a few kisses on the cheek.

Matte true red Stila Beso liquid lipstick left a whisper of crimson behind, so FYI, Beso isn’t kiss-proof, but it is long-lasting enough to survive two cups of coffee, a snack and a meal.

I think it fades very well, as a matter of fact, and it doesn’t leave that gross line of product on your bottom lip as it wears off (you know the one).

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