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
It may be cold and rainy here in the Bay Area tonight (boo!), but at least I don’t have to see dudes with long toenails wearing flip-flops. #glasshalffull
The rain also gives me an excuse to stay home and gaze at the sparkly clutch that comes with Sonia Kashuk’s new $24.99 Gilded Cages Holiday Brush Set…
(And rub the six ultra plush brush heads all over my face.)
QUESTION: What’s better than a fantabulous smokey eye look?
ANSWER: A fantabulous smokey eye look with a twist!
There are so many reasons to like Sonia Kashuk’s new four-piece Precious Gems Lip, Liner & Nail Set, like the price (just $12.99), and Sonia’s contemporary take on the mixed metal theme…
…but my top reason, by far, is the liquid eye liner that comes with the set. It’s a metallic, rosy golden taupe with a mirror-like shine that illuminates lash lines like Hollywood special effects.
Remember the gorgeous Chanel Rose Platine eyeliner from spring 2011? Well, this metallic meistro is like a liquid liner version of that.
I almost can’t believe the set is only $13, because it kinda looks like something Coco would do (and sell for considerably more!).
To take a pair of smokey eyes for a metallic walk on the wild side, just do your regular smokey eye look first (here I’m wearing MAC Patina Eyeshadow on top of a base of MAC Feline Eye Kohl). Then, line your upper lash lines with the liquid liner from the set.
The stuff is packed with metallic pigment, so one or two layers should do the trick.
It’s all about the cats and makeup (the C&M).
Tabs actually wanted to tackle the pics for this afternoon’s post, and who am I to argue with Tabs? He’s a world-renowned plus-size kitty supermodel, actor and entrepreneur, and I’m just a makeup-obsessed girl with a cat…
…and strong cat lady tendencies.
And a deep abiding love for beauty bargains and cat eyes, like the kind you can do with the new $3 NYC New York Color Metallic Eyeliners in Leopard Print and Serpentine Purple.
I’m wearing the limited edition Sally Hanson Rock of Ages Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Fingerlace Gloves ($9.99; check drugstores for availability), which strutted on to counters earlier in the summer with seven other patterns inspired by the movie Rock of Ages.
Salon Effects are pre-cut, printed nail stickers that you apply to clean nails for an instant manicure with a glossy finish. To remove ’em, just use regular old nail polish remover and a cotton ball or pad.
It was pretty easy and only took about a half hour to do both hands. The stickers do seem to run big, so if you have small hands like I do, you may need to trim down a couple of the strips to fit your nails.
The box says the mani can last up to 10 days. Hmm! It’s only been two, and I already have a few chips. I’m pretty hard on my hands, though. It might be different if you aren’t typing or opening cans of gravy all day. 🙂
What about you? What are you wearing on your nails?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Sonia Kashuk studded headband
Like I needed another reason to absolutely adore Sonia Kashuk.
As if her cute travel bags, smarty pants makeup cases, luscious nail polishes and oh-so-affordable brushes (her Bent Eyeliner Brush changed my life!) weren’t reason enough, now she’s hitting Target shelves with a new line of stylin’ limited edition hair accessories.
Released for fall, her Studly Haute Hair Sets ($9.99 each) are totally tough girl approved.
The first set pairs a studded headband with a set of two silver studded bobby pins, and it’s available now at Target stores and online at target.com.
The second set, also available in Target stores but unfortunately not online, puts a studded barrette together with four studded elastics.
Silver studded bobby pins
Studded elastics
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You know what would be really nice? I mean, besides a shirtless Alcide Herveaux baking me semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies from scratch in my kitchen.
I know I was going somewhere with that…
Oh, yeah! 🙂 It would be really nice to have an extra hour every morning just to put on makeup. Then I could blend, pat, and smudge till my heart’s content without having to hurry (or hear El Hub yell from downstairs, “Babe! What are you doing?! We were supposed to leave the house 15 minutes ago!”).
Dare to dream, right?
The reality is usually closer to 10 minutes than an hour, and I have to make every one of those seconds count.
Sonia Kashuk understands. Her new $14.99 Perfecting Translucent Illuminator makes the most of makeup time, so you never have to leave the house without at least a little highlighter.
It’s a warm, peachy golden cream/gel highlighter with a light-reflecting shimmer that creates the look of flawless, fresh skin.
Sonia Kashuk Fall 2012 Nail Colours from the left: Hocus Pocus, Emerald City, Two Cents, Dime a Dozen and All Vamped Up
Beep-beep-beep!
Did you hear that…? That beeping sound? Is a truck backing up outside my window? Did I suddenly get a page from 1997 (007734-411-007-911)?
Oh, I see what it is. It’s just the sweet, sweet sound of my Bargain Beauty Thrill-o-Meter sounding off. 🙂
Even before I swatched ’em, I had a feeling Sonia Kahuk’s five new $4.79 fall Nail Colours would rock my budget-loving boat.
With finishes from creamy to metallic and colors perfect for fall, these highly pigmented jewel-toned polishes look like the kinds of nail accoutrements I’m more accustomed to seeing on Dior and Chanel counters, and with price tags closer to $30 than $5.
Looking at metallic copper Two Cents and creamy eggplant All Vamped Up, fall seems just days away, and I can almost hear the leaves crunching beneath my feet as I stroll around my neighborhood looking at Halloween decorations…
Creamy purple Hocus Pocus and rich green Emerald City should look right at home on my paws as I hoist a cup of hot cocoa up to my lips (can’t forget the marshmallows!), while gunmental Dime a Dozen looks like a lovely shade to bring to Thanksgiving dinner with the fam.
In the swatches below, I’m wearing two coats of Emerald City, Two Cents and Dime a Dozen. I think I also could’ve gotten away with two coats of Hocus Pocus and All Vamped Up, but I decided to apply a third because I noticed the faintest bit of streaking from those two in direct sunlight.
From the left: Two Cents, Dime a Dozen, Hocus Pocus, Emerald City and All Vamped Up
Emerald City
Two Cents
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Whoever said that celebrity pet assisting is easy was smoking some hella strong catnip.
The grueling hours and working on weekends, late-night airport trips, difficult dietary restrictions (Gravy with every meal?! Come on!) — but it can also be very rewarding, like this afternoon. Tabs didn’t give me the stink eye once today, and he even said an appreciative “Mrrow” when he climbed onto my lap for a handful of Greenies.
In fact, he was so agreeable today that he let me quit work early — right after I finished organizing his accessories closet (mostly ties, ascots, top hats and a small, but growing, collection of monocles) and buffing his claws.
First thing I did after quitting for the day was watch this old interview of Jeremy Renner…
Skip to 3:17 for a gem of J-Ren beauty wisdom!
Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better, I opened the $12.99 limited edition Sonia Kashuk Lips and Tips Mini Nail and Lip Set.
And my Friday went from good to great. 🙂
From the left: Nail Polish in Lacquered Lilac, Lipgloss in Shrinking Violet, Nail Polish in Undercover Lover and Lipgloss in Sealed with a Kiss
The four-piece set of color-coordinated miniature sheer glosses and opaque nail polishes comes with two pairs of matching red and purple shades for lips and nails.
The two unscented, unflavored glosses are smoooove! — and non-sticky — while the high-shine nail polishes have pigment to spare.
Wearing Nail Polish in Undercover Lover and Lipgloss in Sealed with a Kiss
I love how Sonia chose coordinating colors with varying levels of coverage, and I think it’s cool how the products in the set work with each other when they’re worn together.
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