Makeup

The Eyes of Tom Ford Private Shadows in Tempete Bleue, Vertigo, Videotape and Breathless

November 30th, 2017 by Karen 25 Comments

Now your teeny, tiny Tom Ford Lips & Boys Lipsticks (and your Lips & Girls Lipsticks!) have cute li’l clutch-sized eyeshadows to play with.

The new $36 Tom Ford Private Shadow mini eyeshadows introduced in the Eyes of Tom Ford collection are just as cute as buttons! They’re about the same size as them, too.

Well, not really, but they are hella small. The dainty little pans contain 0.04 ounces of product.

There are five different finishes among the 30 shades.

Ultra Suede — a completely flat matte with no pearl
Suede — a demi-matte with subtle pearl particles
Sateen — a lustrous pearl with a glowing sheen
Vinyl — a high-shine metallic chrome
Paillette — a sequined, glittery pearl

Each single looks like a mini TF eyeshadow quad, but when you open it up, there’s a tiny little mirror and one pan of eyeshadow inside.

I’ve been playing with four of them, and every time I pull one out I think, wow, why don’t all eyeshadows blend like this?

I wish all eyeshadows blended as well as matte taupe Vertigo (an Ultra Suede shade) and demi-matte Videotape (Suede finish). They’re pigmented, buttery, and they just won’t skip. They’ll blend on top of anything flawlessly.

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The MAC Robert Lee Morris Mattene Lipsticks

November 30th, 2017 by Karen 14 Comments

mac persimmon — Lips: MAC Robert Morris Mattene Lipstick in Persimmon

I could easily take down either a bucketful of lychees or a bucketful of persimmons, which are two of my Top 5 Fave Fruits of All Time.

Who has a list like that? Apparently, I do.

Watermelon
Lychee
Persimmon
Honeycrisp apples
Strawberries

BAM.

There’s a Lychee and a Persimmon in the MAC Robert Lee Morris collection, but they aren’t in the fruit family! They’re Mattene Lipsticks, and there are six in the limited edition launch, which you’ll only be able to get through December 14th, so if you see something you like, FYI, time is of the essence.

Robert Lee Morris is a renowned jewelry designer, and everything in the collection (there’s also blushes, face powders and brushes) has limited edition packing, which looks kinda medieval to me…like Game of Thrones red wedding jewelry.

The Mattene Lipsticks show up in LE collections every once in a while, and I can’t figure out why MAC just doesn’t make them permanent already, because man, I love the formula!

These pigmented, lightweight semi-matte lipsticks come in a slim bullet, and they aren’t your run-of-the-mill super drying flat mattes. They feel like a straight-up cream, so they’re comfortable and don’t dry out your lips.

The Chanel Velvet formula (which I also love) is very similar.

mac robert lee morris mattenes top — MAC Robert Lee Morris Matte Lipsticks from the left: Lychee, Persimmon, Pumpkin, Fig, Concorde Grape and Pomegranate

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Tourmaline and White Smoke, Two New Tom Ford Eye Kohl Intense Shades in the Eyes of Tom Ford Collection

November 29th, 2017 by Karen 2 Comments

tom ford tourmaline white smoke — Two new shades of eyeliner to play with at Tom Ford

If you deep dive into the Tom Ford line, passed the popular, costly quads, luxe lipsticks, lavish nail lacquers and pricey perfumes, all of which get lots of love, there’s a lesser-known collection of pigmented $36 pencils called Eye Kohl Intense, and Mink is my go-to. It’s a shimmery bronzed brown with a hint of purple (I think it looks amazing on the lower water line, BTW, and here’s why).

TF just added two new shades — a matte white called White Smoke and a satiny teal called Tourmaline. Both are part of the new Eyes of Tom Ford collection available now.

tom ford tourmaline white smoke 2 — Tourmaline and White Smoke

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It’s Shine Time for Lids With Tom Ford’s Sleek, Wet-Looking $36 Eye Gloss

November 28th, 2017 by Karen 13 Comments

tom ford eye gloss — Lids: New $36 Tom Ford Eye Gloss; Lips: NARS Give It Up Powermatte Lip Pigment

FACT: if you thought this was a new lip gloss…

…you aren’t the only one. I actually put it on my lips at first (whoops) and, FYI, it is a pretty good clear lip gloss (unofficially), but it’s even better on your eyes.

It’s comfy, clear, shiny and non-sticky (yay!). It’s Tom Ford’s new $36 Eye Gloss, and it’s part of the new Eyes of Tom Ford collection available now.

The release also includes the new Private Shadow eyeshadow singles (30 shades, $36 each), three mascaras (Spike, Shutter and Fullscreen, $45 each) and two new shades of Eye Kohl Intense liner (White Smoke and Tourmaline, $36 each).

Tom’s Eye Gloss is a lot like Rouge Bunny Rouge’s awesome Smithereens of Stars, which is really the only other super comfortable clear gloss I’ve found that I can wear for long periods of time.

Like RBR’s Eye Gloss, Tom’s is lightweight and resilient, and it doesn’t scoot around on my lids or creep into my lash lines. So, your tight line and mascara won’t smudge. Also, when you blink your eyes, you won’t feel the gloss sticking to your crease.

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NARS Wanted Eyeshadow Palette: A Cyber Monday Special

November 26th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

WANTED:

A new NARS eyeshadow palette
A piping hot gingerbread latte
A tuxedo-clad Nick Jonas to feed me chilled green grapes while I recline on a velvet fainting couch

Two days only!

If you love NARS and collect their palettes, don’t let NARS Wanted leave you wanting. It’s only going to be available for two days, first online only on Cyber Monday, November 27th, on the Sephora website, and then again two days later on November 29th on the NARS website and in person at NARS boutiques (here’s their store locator).

Ridin’ rose gold

It literally took me days to figure out that the image on the palette is a closed eye. Maybe I was too preoccupied by the rose gold action happening inside.

I love this mix of colors. The colors are flashy enough for fun but flexible enough to incorporate into responsible life looks. There are pinks, warm and neutral browns, coppers, cranberries, bronzes and a bit o’ beige for balance. Most of them are new colors, but I recognize some old faves, like matte beige Biarritz and dark brown Coconut Grove (oldie but goodie).

The BIG news: a new powder eyeshadow formula

Here’s the big thing, though: everything in the palette has a new reformulated powder formula. It’s supposed to be more pigmented than the current NARS shadow formula, but I’m not completely sold on how much more pigmented they are yet.

Granted, they are pretty pigmented, as NARS shadows usually are, but they seem maybe just a tad more pigmented than usual.

They do feel NARS soft and silky, though, and I easily get 12 hours of wear time with them.

Now, with a reformulation, you expect things to be better, and I expected there to be less fallout than usual with these, but the fallout is typical of the current formula, which isn’t all bad, because I don’t get a ton of fallout from NARS shadows anyway. I have to do a bit of cleanup underneath my eyes and on my cheeks when I use this palette, as I do with other NARS eyeshadows.

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I’m Diggin’ Distortion: The Urban Decay Distortion Eyeshadow Palette

November 24th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

Most of the time when people say that something is shifty…it’s not usually a good thing, but when you’re talking about the new Urban Decay Distortion Eyeshadow Palette ($49), being shifty is great.

Five “shifty” duo chrome shadows

New limited edition Distortion just landed at Urban Decay, and the kicker is that top row of pale pastel-looking eyeshadows — one, two, three, four, five.

They look pale pastel in the pans, but they’re actually duo chromes that change color in the light. They’re designed to be layered on top of the other 10 eyeshadows in the palette, the ones in the middle and bottom rows.

You can definitely also wear them on top of any other eyeshadows in your collection, too, because there’s no exclusive high-tech stuff happening here, LOL! (But wouldn’t it be kinda cool and sci-fi if there were, though?)

If you’re an artsy-fartsy type who likes to get all mad scientist on your eyeshadows, like, by whipping up your own color concoctions on a Tuesday morning just ’cause, this palette should be a lot of fun.

urban decay distortion eyeshadow palette swatches 2 — The shifty shades — Bleach, Shifty, Space, Mind Game and Blur — by themselves, and then layered on top of Territorial, one of the other eyeshadows in the palette.

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Up to 50% Off MAC Cosmetics at Nordstrom Rack

November 22nd, 2017 by Karen 4 Comments

mac cosmetics flat lay final — MAC attack at The Rack!

OK, I know. Wandering around “The Rack” (a.k.a Nordstrom Rack, the discounted outlet arm of Nordstrom) can feel like its own form of torture sometimes because… I JUST CAN’T with the clothing and shoe sections. Too overwhelming and disorganized.

But the beauty area is generally easier to navigate than the rest of the store, and sometimes, like RIGHT MEOW, they have amazing deals.

Three letters: M. A. C. Yup! If you live near a Nordstrom Rack, you might wanna pop in sometime soon, especially if you’re a MAC fan, because right now they’ve got some deep discounts on MAC products, with some items as much as half off.

And get this! — there’s lots of really good stuff on sale at the moment. It’s not just rand-o pieces from fly-by-night collections from, like, five years ago. I’m talking workhorse items and unsung heroes from the permanent collection that you can use all the time.

I stopped by the Nordstrom Rack near my house last weekend (Novato Vintage Oaks), and although the MAC shelves looked a little sparse and picked-over, I still found a few choice items, including…

41% off Paint Pots in Rubenesque and Constructivist — On sale for $12.87 (originally $22). Everyday cream shadow bases you can wear alone or layered underneath powder shadows (see Rubenesque and Constructivist on me).

41% off Pearlglide Intense Eye Liners in Lord It Up and Undercurrent — On sale for $9.97 (originally $17). Intense, silky, rich liners with bits of glitter. For use on the lash lines only (see a swatch of Lord It Up).

50% off MAC Pencil Sharpener — On sale for $4.97 (originally $10). If you own any of the MAC Pro Longwear pencils, you’ve gotta have a MAC Pencil Sharpener around. Other sharpeners don’t work as well as the MAC ones for that family of pencils for some reason.

mac rubenesque paint pot packaging — Paint Pot in Rubenesque, $12.87 (originally $22)

mac constructivist paint pot packaging — Paint Pot in Constructivist, $12.87 (originally $22)

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Urban Decay All Nighter Waterproof Full-Coverage Concealer: Available Now in the UD Permanent Line

November 21st, 2017 by Karen 16 Comments

Don’t go chasing waterfalls… That’s what I’m telling you, but if you’re going to do it anyway (despite TLC’s multiple warnings!), know that you can stand underneath one wearing Urban Decay’s new concealer, and your makeup would emerge completely intact.

It’s waterproof to the extreme, so keep your fave oil-based makeup remover handy, because you’ll need it to take this concealer off your face.

Extremely matte, extremely waterproof

A new addition to the UD permanent fam, All Nighter is a long-wearing, high-coverage liquid concealer available in 14 shades ($29 each).

They have a… I want to call it an ultra-matte finish, because they’re SO matte that they don’t reflect any light whatsoever on the skin, which makes them easier for me, as a woman in my 40s, to wear on my cheeks, nose, mouth, chin and forehead, but not so easy to wear under my eyes.

For some reason, matte concealers, especially the flat mattes like these, age me. I dunno, but I swear they make my fine lines look more obvious (whereas dewy/reflective concealers like Make Up For Ever’s HD and MAC Matchmaster make my under-eye area look plumper and more youthful).

Awesome for everywhere except under my eyes

If you’re 30+, I wouldn’t recommend All Nighter as an under-eye concealer, but it’s boss for everything else on your face because it covers up everything (it’s also way more pigmented than UD’s Naked Skin concealer).

It hides freckles, discoloration, redness… All Nighter handles it all, and it’ll do it all night long, even if you go for an impromptu swim at midnight (it happens). It’s waterproof and long lasting.

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