Drugstore Beauty Finds

Wear Time Isn’t a Problem for Sonia Kashuk’s Multitasking Chic Luminosity Stick in Persian Sunset

April 12th, 2013 by Karen 13 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Persian Sunset — She made her way through the marketplace with the Persian Sunset on her upper cheekbones and the scent of saffron in the air… Sonia Kashuk’s Chic Luminosity Highlighter Stick in Persian Sunset ($10.99)

I like when cream makeup comes in sticks and pencils (see: Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil in Mushroom) 1) because they’re easy to use (especially the ones I can blend with a finger), and 2) because they make me feel like I’m back in eighth grade art class, where my biggest concerns were whether my breath smelled like the BBQ Corn Nuts I had at lunch, or whether I’m going to finish my drawing of ceramic bowls by the bell (my teacher was obsessed with us drawing bowls).

Of course, not all cream products are created equal, and some of them just don’t last.

I’m a busy woman with “important” (air quotes) things to do, like figuring out how to dress like Olivia Pope from Scandal without having to throw down the cash for all that Prada, and looking for a monocle for my cat (you know that would be awesome, right?). Having to stop whatever I’m doing every two hours to refresh a product on my lids or cheeks gets really old fast.

Sonia Kashuk’s Chic Luminosity Highlighter Stick in Persian Sunset ($10.99) will show those weak-willed, disappearing creams how it’s supposed to be done.

Sonia Kashuk Chic Luminosity Highlighter Stick in Persian Sunset ($10.99)

Sonia Kashuk Persian Sunset swatch — A swatch on my NC 42 skin

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On Your Mark…Get Set…Save! Flower Beauty’s Long-Lasting On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner Delivers a Dior-Like Look for $7

April 10th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

Makeup lovers, on your mark… Get set… GO! “Here I’m wearing Flower Beauty On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner in Black ($7) on my upper lash lines!!”

Yea! Great product name! 🙂

But I feel like Flower Beauty should have added an ellipses at the end of their new $7 On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner, because that’s how I say it in my head.

“On your mark…”

With the pause at the end. LOL!

I’ve been all about liquid liners with shiny finishes lately — liners like the $30 Diorshow Art Pen, which might as well be Velcroed to my hand — paired with some of this season’s raddest lipsticks from Buxom, NARS, Laura Mercier, MAC and Milani.

Some products just seem so right together, don’t they? That’s how I feel about liquid liner and lipstick. They’re a classic pairing, like scrunchies and side ponytails, or Katniss and Peeta (which reminds me, The Hunger Games is now available on Netflix, holla!).

Unfortunately, the Diorshow Art Pen costs three hamiltons (which doesn’t flow off the tongue as well as “benjamins”), so I’ve been looking for a drugstore alternative that lasts just as long and is just as easy to apply.

I think I may have found it, too, in Flower Beauty’s water-resistant On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner, which has a flexible felt tip that lays down lines just as smoothly as the Art Pen from Dior.

So long-lasting (12 hours)! So perspiration-proof (I ran 3 miles with it on, and it didn’t even budge)! So affordable at just $7!

I haven’t been able to keep my hands off it, and I think my Dior liner’s even getting a little jealous…

Flower Beauty On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner swatch — Flower Beauty On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner in Black on my NC 42 skin

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Get a Long-Lasting Luxury Lip Gloss Look for a Penny Less Than 9 Bucks With Sonia Kashuk’s New Luxe Lip Gloss

April 9th, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Ultra Luxe Lip Gloss in Prettiest Pink ($8.99) — In the category of “Favorite Drugstore Lip Gloss,” I’m currently crushing on Sonia Kashuk’s Ultra Luxe Lip Gloss in Prettiest Pink ($8.99)

Lucky number nine!

That’s how many shades Sonia Kashuk crafted of her new $9 ($8.99 to be exact) Ultra Luxe Lip Gloss. Partial to pale pinks? Check. Nudes? Got ya covered. Rich plums? Right here.

Right now I’m hooked on Prettiest Pink and Polished Plum, both of which, like the other colors in the line, are unscented and unflavored. Every time I swipe one of their brush applicators across my lips, I’m blown away by how evenly they apply, and I think the pigmented, non-sticky formula feels fantastic (and lasts from 2-4 hours). It’s juiced up with papaya extract, glycerin and antioxidants to make it hella hydrating, too.

“This next-generation lip gloss formula delivers beautiful, buildable color with instant softness and multi-dimensional shine. This lightweight, gel-like texture glides on comfortably to leave lips feeling kissable and moisturized — never sticky. Shades range from subtle nude to bold brights. Infused with Glycerin, Fatty Acids and emollients to hydrate lips and Papaya Fruit Extract, a natural skin softener, this multi-tasking gloss enhances skin’s elasticity and protects lips with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.”

— target.com

Sonia Kashuk Ultra Luxe Lip Glosses in Polished Plum on the top and Prettiest Pink on the bottom ($8.99) — Sonia Kashuk Ultra Luxe Lip Glosses in Polished Plum on the top and Prettiest Pink on the bottom ($8.99 each)

Sonia Kashuk Ultra Luxe Lip Gloss Swatches in Prettiest Pink on the left and Polished Plum on the right

Sonia Kashuk Ultra Luxe Lip Gloss in Polished Plum

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Flower’s $8 Forget-Me-Not Win Some Rouge Some Creme Blush Says No to Bathrobe Funk, Yes to Cute Puppies

April 5th, 2013 by Karen 13 Comments

Flower Creme Blush Forget-Me-Not — Flower’s $8 Forget-Me-Not Win Some Rouge Some Creme Blush

Whenever I swipe a little blush on my cheeks, there’s that moment afterwards when I take a step back, see myself in the mirror and sigh with relief. “Ahhh…”

You know what I’m talking about. 🙂

Without at least a hint of color on my cheeks, I look like a walking billboard for one of those all-inclusive island resorts — an aimless, ambling, barely-aware “before” picture of someone in dire need of a margarita on a white sandy beach (picture me in a ratty terrycloth bathrobe, mismatched socks and unkempt hair).

The new $8 Forget-Me-Not Win Some Rouge Some Creme Blush from Flower Beauty — yup, Drew Barrymore’s new makeup line — takes care of that.

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The Sonia Kashuk Moroccan Dunes Eye Palette Channels Chanel and Luxuriates Lids With Luminous, Chrome Colors

April 4th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

When the production crew of Hoarders finally arrives at my doorstep to film “the very special makeup episode,” they’ll find me half-buried under a mound of Friskies Gravy Lovers cans, unread issues of Entertainment Weekly and Chanel eye quads.

I’ll be wearing the gray bathrobe I borrowed from my friend Jen once and never returned and clutching something small and Chanel-like in one of my hands…

“Forget about me!” I’ll say to the production assistant trying to free me from the mound. “Save the quad instead!”

What quad is that?

A new one from Sonia Kashuk called Moroccan Dunes. 🙂

The Sonia Kashuk Moroccan Dunes Eye Palette ($16.99)

Is it just me, or does this quad shout, “COCO WAS HERE!” The sleek, Chanel-esque packaging, the luminous finish that glimmers on lids, and the colors, like precious metals, in rich, dark brown, grayish mauve, shimmering pink and rosy gold.

But in this case, the price is right — much lower than Chanel. It’s just $16.99, so you won’t feel like you have to sneak it into the house in your big purse (been there, done that).

When I work with these hybrid shadows, which combine baked, powder, cream and liquid finishes/textures, I like to start with a kick-@ss primer on my lids, like NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base, to lock the shadows in place.

Sonia Kashuk Moroccan Dunes Eye Palette Swatches — Sonia Kashuk Moroccan Dunes Eye Palette swatches

Then, to apply, I load a flat eye shadow brush with one or two of the shades, tap it to remove the excess and reduce any fallout — which can get pretty wicked with a couple of the fluffier shades — and press the powder on my lids.

Pressing, as opposed to swiping, seems to help the shadows bind a little better to my skin. Then I blend the edges with a domed brush.

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Four Taupes, One Quad, One Happy Gal: The New Sonia Kashuk Textured Taupe Monochrome Eye Quad

April 4th, 2013 by Karen 10 Comments

My fellow eye shadow junkies — if you obsess over shades like taupe, I’m talking to YOU! — once you’ve taken a whirl with one of Sonia Kashuk’s new Monochrome Eye Quads, you may be tempted to call it your new BFF.

Don’t be surprised if you find yourself sending it texts while you shop for shoes (“I can’t tell if these make me look short…”), or offering to braid its hair, or inviting it over one Friday night to watch BRAVO, drink champagne and eat cake.

Each of the four new spring quads (Textured Rose, Textured Mauve, Textured Coca, and Textured Taupe) comes with four variations on a different shade, and you can find them now at Target for less than the cost of lunch at a fancy food truck.

Textured Taupe has totes been my jam as of late…

Sonia Kashuk Monochrome Eye Quad in Textured Taupe ($13.69)

Inside the sleek black matte package lives 1) a matte taupe, 2) a matte taupe with tiny flecks of golden glitter, 3) a pearly golden taupe and 4) a shiny golden taupe with big o’ pieces of glitter.

Sonia Kashuk Textured Taupe Swatches — Textured Taupe swatches on my NC42 skin

I really dig this quad, and not based solely on my love for taupe.

Whenever I need a lift, I pat one or two shades on my lids to brighten my eyes, and because the shades are so closely related, they only take a few swipes to blend. I just have to remember to dust off any excess from my brush first to avoid any fallout.

You’d think that a quad with four of the same shades might be boring, but among the four finishes, I always seem to find a fresh new combo to keep it spicy.

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Try Flower Zoom-In Ultimate Mascara for Lash Looks With a Twist — No, Really, You Twist a Dial on the Tube to Change the Shape of the Brush

April 3rd, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Whenever I’m flipping through the channels and see that the The Wedding Singer is on, I grab a jar of Chocolate Butter and a spoon (more on this in a second), and sit back and relax with it for the hundred billionth time.

Great music, mullets, awesome ’80s references (“We’re living in a material world, and I am a material girl…or boy.”) and, of course, Drew Barrymore!

I’ve always thought she’d be fun to kick it with, ya know? And we could talk about makeup, too. In fact, she recently released her own cosmetics line called Flower, available exclusively at Walmart and walmart.com.

“You no longer have to spend a lot of money to get the quality cosmetics you want and deserve. How do we do it? We do not pay for advertising. Where other beauty brands spend a vast percentage of the cost of their products on ads, we do not. Drew, as an owner of the brand, takes pride in promoting Flower, which in turn allows us to put all of our resources into the formulas and packaging, and not into advertising. Custom-formulated with the same ingredients used in luxury make-up, our exclusive botanical-infused Soft-Focus Complex illuminates for a lit-from-within effect. All products are proudly made in the USA and are never tested on animals. So be em-FLOWER-ed. The best make-up isn’t only found in high-end stores any longer.”

— flowerbeauty.com

The brand doesn’t believe in animal testing and features a wide array of well-priced products, like the $8 Zoom-In Ultimate Mascara I wore last weekend.

If you’ve ever felt the urge to toss a mascara tube in the trash after combing through pesky lumps or bumps (always seems to happen when I’m in a big rush, like the mascara knows I’m running behind), try Zoom-In’s smooove formula and customizable brush.

The wand has a dial/doohickey at the top; twisting it shortens the brush at the other end, which transforms it for different effects (like lengthening, curling or volume), letting you choose the lash look you like.

I find it oddly thrilling. 🙂

For natural-looking lashes with a little extra length, I keep the brush long, but for more thickness and curl, I’ll twist the dial down.

Flower Zoom-In Ultimate Mascara before and after — Plain lashes on the left of the screen and two coats of Zoom-In on the right of the screen

And no matter how many layers I apply, the formula doesn’t clump.

Besides the empowerment I get from choosing my lash look, I think the mascara itself is pretty cool, especially for natural, casual lash looks.

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What’s One Thing I’d Like to See More of in Sonia Kashuk’s Moisture Luxe Tinted Lip Balms?

April 3rd, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Moisture Luxe Tinted Lip Balm in Hint of Berry — That’s Sonia K.’s $8.99 Hint of Berry Moisture Luxe Tinted Lip Balm on my lips

The list of things Sonia Kashuk’s new Moisture Luxe Tinted Lip Balms have going for ’em reads like a laundry list of travel makeup awesomeness.

Sleek presentation
They’re pretty affordable at $8.99 each
They come in four sheer, universally flattering shades — Hint of Coral, Hint of Pink, Hint of Red and Hint of Berry
The lightweight formula
They’re unburdened by scents or flavors
SPF 15
Infused with aÃ§aÃ oil, essential fatty acids, cherry extract for antioxidant protection and safflower seed oil to nourish lips

I always worry about losing my (luggage, mind) makeup bag when I travel, and Sonia regularly releases such great stuff at good prices that I figured I’d bring one of these along with me on my next trip.

Except there’s one problem with that…

Moisture!

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