Makeup and Beauty Blog | Makeup Reviews, Swatches and How-To Makeup
A beauty blog blooming with fresh makeup reviews, swatches and beauty tips from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Right before I jumped on the treadmill this morning I noticed these shadows on the walls and thought they looked really cool…
Just goes to show ya, there’s beauty all around you, even on the walls next to a closet filled with towels.
You just have to keep your eyes open to it. 🙂
The five new La Creme Lipsticks in the Spring 2014 Haute Chocolate Collection from Too Faced are so creamy — so dreamy — that I almost forgot about the citrus tree-killing cold snap outside. (Grrr… I think it eighty-sixed my beloved dwarf orange tree.)
Someone pass me some hot tea and another pair of socks, thanks!
I love that these crazy opaque colors evoke spring without going the usual pastel route, and they’re oh, so smooth…
Hello, it’s the ’80s calling on this giant old-school cordless phone. Is Karen there??
Why, yes. Yes, she is. 🙂
I think I may have worn something like Lollipop to the eighth-grade dance in 1989…along with my Jessica McClintock dress, haha! — except that this is an updated version with smaller flecks of glitter.
I’d wear this one with a peach or coral cheek because pairing it with a blush shade too similar to the color of the lipstick could look a little dated (picture Joan Cusack in Working Girl).
I love Taffy because — well, because it’s delicious. 🙂
But seriously, I love warm peachy pink nude Taffy because it doesn’t look washed out or unnatural; it just might be my new favorite everyday lip shade. I bet it would look amaze-balls with with smokey eyes!
Oh, but you might want to pat it down when you first apply to smooth it out, because I’ve noticed that Taffy likes to hang out in my vertical lip lines (how rude!).
Doesn’t bright creamy red Jelly Bean look like a purr-fect partner for black cat liner? Cat lady says, “MEOW!”
Same goes for creamy coral pink Bon Bon. Both shades have pigment that’s off the charts! Totally opaque, and they feel fabulously smooth.
And then there’s Pink Chocolate — sort of an updated version of a ’90s brown lip. If you were to wear it with a plaid shirt and Timbaland boots and blast Biggie and Lil’ Kim, you’d be reliving my college experience, LOL!
Of all five shades here, it’s the least pigmented, but by no means would I call it sheer. More like “semi-opaque cream.”
They’re unflavored, but the lot of ’em smell faintly of marshmallows to me. Wear time clocks in around 3-4 hours for the more pigmented ones, and a little less for the others.
Look for the five new La Cremes, along with the rest of the Too Faced spring 2014 Haute Chocolate collection, at toofaced.com starting December 12.
This is one of those decidedly juicy reds that could almost pass for a gloss.
It’s *that* shiny.
I’d take it easy with Deborah Lippmann’s $22 Sheer Lipstick in She Bangs because a little dab ‘ll do ya. A stained lip look only takes the smallest amount. Trust me — less is more when it comes to this seductress. For these pics, I applied a full layer (pretty!), but within 10 minutes it was a hot mess! A full layer of this bright tomato red color and slippery, silky formula added up to “high maintenance.”
That’s what I mean — less is more.
Like the other colors in Debbie-Deb’s Sheer Lipstick line, She Bangs is unscented and unflavored, but it’s got moisture for miles…
You’ll find She Bangs online and bangin’ at Deborah Lippmann counters at Nordstrom stores.
This perfume is like an old friend, who even if you haven’t seen or talked to them in ages, when you do see each other again, it’s as if no time has passed at all. 🙂
I’ve been wearing it for years… (It’s my all-time second-favorite Dolce & Gabbana fragrance, after Light Blue.) A heavy oriental floral scent, I find myself reaching for it a lot this time of year.
Official fragrance notes: Bergamot, Mandarin, Lychee, Peach, Madonna Lily, Muguet, Plum, Jasmine, Vetiver, Vanilla, Amber and Musk.
It has a warmth that reminds me of Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle, and I have a feeling that if you love Coco’s scent, you may very well like this, too.
The gold bottle here is a limited edition of the Eau de Parfum ($108 for a 1.6-ounce bottle).
Could be a very thoughtful, gorgeous gift for someone you love (or for yourself, of course) who has a lot of gold decor on her vanity.
You can find it now online and at Dolce & Gabbana counters at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Sephora stores.
Do you wear any Dolce & Gabbana scents? I wear The One, Light Blue, Desire, Pour Femme, Pour Femme Intense, Sicily (remember that one?!)…and I love them all!
I think there’s just something about their perfumes that goes well with my body chemistry, if that makes any sense at all, haha.
Will it be a cat lady couture Christmas? Survey says, “Meow!” 
I scurried down to the mall earlier today to (allegedly) do some semi-early Christmas shopping, but you know how it goes… A black and gold dress with a big cat print crosses your path, and it’s all downhill from there.
Case in point: the Panthere Dress from Anthropologie, which they had it on a display right by the front door. Darned thing made my cat-lovin’ heart skip a beat.
So much cuteness…and it’s also available in petite sizes for vertically challenged kitties. Available now in stores and at anthropologie.com for $178.
A couple minutes later, as I was cruising the mall, I spotted a girl wearing this adorable beige infinity scarf with a leopard-print bow, and it had SEQUINS! Of course I had to ask her where she got it, to which she said, “Nordstrom.” Then she added the magic words, “It’s on sale right now.”
It’s by Betsey Johnson and also comes in black with a gray and black leopard-print bow, in case you don’t want to have to worry about your beige scarf getting dirty. Oh, and there are matching gloves!
The scarf was $27.60 (marked down from $46) and the gloves were $16.80 (originally $28). I checked online but couldn’t find the exact same ones. I did, however, find this non-leopard contender…
Do not disturb. Kitty modeling in progress. 🙂
Please note the perfectly placed paws and dreamy eyes… This is the work of a seasoned professional, I’ll have you know. A true master of the craft.
In other news, I am so disappointed! When I saw this adorable red sequined bow tie at Petco, of course my first thought was, “Tabs is going to rock this. HARD!”
But then I realized that there’s absolutely no way it’ll fit around his neck. It’s way, way too small! And it’s “One size fits all,” which apparently is Petco code for “Not even remotely appropriate for plus-size kitties in the 18-20 pound range.”
Just an FYI…in the event your feline employer requests one for the big office party.
In the event you were looking for another moisturizing nude lippie (because, really, one can never have enough), there’s Deborah Lippmann’s new Sheer Lipstick in L.O.V.E ($22).
This one’s super hydrating and feels light and smooth on my lips (like a good kiss). 
It’s available now at Nordstrom stores and also online.
I keep a running mental list of makeup that looks really, really natural because 1) I still hold out hope that one day my tomboy friend Cindy will see the light and ask me to do a makeover on her (DARE TO DREAM), and I know that unless whatever I do looks really natural she’ll completely freak out; and 2) I occasionally run into peeps who ask for product recs for “no makeup” makeup looks.
The new Freedom System Fusion Blush & Illuminator in #204 by Inglot just joined that list. For $10.40 you get a medium pinkish beige with a matte finish and a lighter pinkish beige illuminator/highlighter. Both add subtle color and can be used to contour the face without the finished product looking too “done.”
For me this is a weekend blush — something to wear on bare skin or a little tinted moisturizer. I pop a layer of the matte on the apples of my cheeks and a smidgen of the illuminator on my upper cheekbones, and it’s off to brunch and/or errands. 🙂
#204 is one of four new Fusion Blushes ($10.40 each, Freedom System Blush Palette sold separately for $8), so if pinkish beige isn’t your thing there’s also…
The new Inglot Fusion Blushes are available now online and coming to Inglot counters, boutiques and select Macy’s stores January 2014.
