Drugstore Beauty Finds

Burt’s Bees Naturally Happy Solid Perfume Always Puts a Smile on My Face

December 22nd, 2010 by Karen 16 Comments

burts bees naturally happy solid perfume

I like the idea of being able to bring along some extra happiness with me wherever I go, and that’s what I hoped for from Burt’s Bees Naturally Happy Solid Perfume ($10).

I’ve been toting the tiny tin around with me everywhere, pulling it out of my purse whenever I’ve needed a quick pick-me-up or a change in my mood. I rub it into my pulse points (on both sides of my neck, the insides of my elbows and on both wrists), and let the woody citrus scent propel me on my merry way.

And ya know, I think it has put an extra spring in my step. Made from a mix of natural oils, waxes and shea butter, it came out earlier this fall with three other travel-friendly solids from Burt — Naturally Beautiful, Naturally Fresh and Naturally Sensual.

Burt lists Naturally Happy’s official fragrance notes as Brazilian orange, Argentinian lemon, Florida grapefruit, raspberry, rose and cedarwood…but I’d characterize it more as a faintly spicy grapefruit.

It’s a very subtle scent, coy and mellow, and doesn’t hit you with a major burst of citrus. It also only lasts about two hours on my skin.

burts bees naturally happy solid perfume
[Continue reading…]

The NYX Soho Glam Collection Is Perfect for Fickle Girls

December 21st, 2010 by Karen 57 Comments

nyx soho glam on karen of makeup and beauty blog

I was sitting in bed reading Stephen King’s Under the Dome the other night when it hit me. No, not the book, silly. 🙂 It occurred to me that I should get a tattoo of Tabs.

Don’t ask me why, because the book doesn’t have anything to do with cats, tattoos or cat tattoos, but since Tabs is my kitty BFF, and he comforts me whenever I get scared (like when I’m reading a Stephen King book), it makes a kind of weird sense.

I don’t have any tattoos right now, but most of my friends have ’em. My brother’s covered in tats, but I haven’t gotten any mostly because 1) I’m not into pain, and 2) I’ve never really liked anything enough to permanently inscribe it on my body.

Except for Tabs (and maybe El Hub, but that’s just too cliche, LOL!).

I’m still mulling over the idea, and it’s not official yet. Knowing me I’ll probably chicken out. El Hub’s totally against it. He’s afraid a cat tattoo would only serve as a gateway tat, but not necessarily into more tattoos; he’s afraid my level of crazy cat lady-ness would escalate, and I can’t argue with that logic.

Since I’m about as fickle with makeup as I am with body art, I’m especially thankful for blockbuster sets like the new NYX Soho Glam Collection ($30).

(Yes, I know it took me an unusually long time to get around to the actual subject of this post. Sorry.)

Girls and guys who love experimenting with color just might love the massive variety of shades, textures, levels of pigment, and finishes (oh hai, shimmers, glitters and mattes!) in this limited edition palette of 54 eyeshadows — a few of them even double as face powders — four powder blushes, eight lipsticks, two glosses and one lip liner.

Released new for the holidays, Soho Glam covers a lot of makeup territory. Here are some quick observations on the palette…

Eyeshadows — Although I had an easy time blending these shadows together, the color payoff varies wildly, with the mattes being more sheer than the shimmers and glitters. I wish NYX had gone with less gray on the neutral side, because for me it gets a little repetitive. But if you appreciate the nuances among the shades you might not mind. As for fallout, I experienced a bit with the shadows in the center of the palette, but in general these remained on my lids without any trouble.
Blushes —All four of the blushes apply very sheer, and they’re particularly great for a naturally-flushed cheek look.
Lip Products —Both the pan lipsticks and lip liner are unscented and unflavored (yea!), and I like the wide range of colors. I was a little nervous about the gloss in the tubes and expected them to have that gnarly NYX taste and scent, but thankfully they don’t.

[Continue reading…]

Burt’s Bees Milk & Honey Body Lotion Gets a Makeover

December 18th, 2010 by Karen 9 Comments

burts bees milk honey body lotion

The bees over at Burt’s house have been busy. Last fall they reformulated their cruelty-free Naturally Nourishing Milk and Honey Body Lotion for normal to dry skin, and it’s raising quite a stir.

With skin softening milk, honey and botanical moisturizers like coconut, grape seed and sunflower oil, the thick lotion feels like a body cream.

Back when I used the O.G. version a few summers ago, it was thinner and made from 98.2% natural ingredients, but Burt’s kicked that up to 99% now.

I remember liking the original bottle, the sweet honey fragrance and how fast it absorbed, but when winters rolled around it wasn’t moisturizing enough for my alligator skin. Being the fickle lotion lady that I am, I moved on to other things.
[Continue reading…]

You May Need a Hand with the Sonia Kashuk Dripping in Diamonds Travel Brush Set

December 17th, 2010 by Karen 14 Comments

The seven long-handled makeup brushes tucked within the lovely limited edition Sonia Kashuk Dripping In Diamonds Travel Brush Set ($24.99) may not get a lot of use this holiday season…

…because opening the stylin’ silver clutch is like trying to crack a safe!

I swear, Rubik himself would have struggled to figure it out. The latch, which is set flush against the side, looks the same from the top/bottom. It takes a good deal of force to pry open. Poor El Hub looked like a gorilla with a Gameboy when I asked him to give it a try, and after pawing, growling and clawing at it for about a minute, he finally figured it out (still lovin’ ya, babe!). 🙂

[Continue reading…]

The $13 Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set Is Perfect for Party Mode

December 16th, 2010 by Karen 20 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set

Where my party girls at? If you’re booked with back-to-back holiday fetes this year, freshen up your look between bashes with the Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set ($13).

The sparkly silver clutch contains four mini versions of classic Sonia brushes — a powder blush/brush, a blending brush, a small eyeshadow brush and a wee little brush for concealer.

Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set brushes and purse open

Sonia Kashuk Shimmer and Shine Purse Brush Set purse
[Continue reading…]

Face Stardom (or a Holiday Office Party) With This Sonia Kashuk Palette

December 15th, 2010 by Karen 44 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Facing Stardom Face Palette on Karen of Makeup and Beauty Blog

The limited edition Sonia Kashuk Facing Stardom Face Palette ($19.99) is like a spontaneous red carpet moment. One second I’m sitting at my desk in black stretchy pants (you know, the ones with the hole in the butt?), but the second that first swipe of smokey eye and rosy cheek/lip makeup dances onto my face, BAM! I’m strutting my stuff at a Hollywood premiere, waiting for Ryan Reynolds to introduce me as “his close friend, confidante and shoulder to cry on” to the paparazzi.

Looking like a star with this 12-piece holiday palette, which includes two powder eyeliners, six eyeshadows, two lipglosses and two cream blushes, doesn’t require an actual acting career. All you need are brushes and your imagination. 🙂

Sonia Kashuk Facing Stardom Face Palette small
Eyeliners (upper left), lipglosses (lower left), eyeshadows (center) and cream blushes (right)

Eyeliners: The matte powder eyeliners can be worn wet or dry along the lash and/or waterlines. They have a little fallout when applied dry, so I keep makeup wipes on standby just in case I need to clean up.

Eyeshadows: Cool-toned and smokey is the name of the game. The glitter shadows (a glittery gray, taupe and purplish taupe) are more pigmented than the ones in the What Glitters Glows Palette, which is a big plus. The three mattes (a gray, purplish taupe and taupe) apply sheer and blend with ease.

Cream Blushes: A creamy rose and a pink designed to be worn on bare skin or on top of foundation. The texture’s very thin, slick and slippery, so I dust a blush or translucent face powder on top to help set the color.

Lipglosses: I’m not sure why S.K. calls the rosy shade on the left a gloss because it sure as heck feels and looks like a lipstick, but semantics, schemantics. I think both the unflavored and unscented lip products add the perfect amount of natural-looking color to my pucker.
[Continue reading…]

This Is the Story of NYX Tango With Bronzing Powder in When Leopard Gets a Tan

December 15th, 2010 by Karen 36 Comments

When Tabs was on safari in Tanzania earlier this year, he met a serval who told him the tale of a leopard named Nix (pronounced NYX), who spent every day sunning himself way up high in the branches of a big acacia tree.

Later, when he got back home to Novato, Tabs took the story and turned it into his first book, titled “When Leopard Gets a Tan.”

And that’s where NYX got the idea for Tango With Bronzing Powder in When Leopard Gets a Tan. 🙂

Okay, okay, that’s not true at all. But it sure would have made a great story, right?

When Leopard Gets a tan, one of the new NYX bronzers for fall, reminded me of Too Faced Pink Leopard from the pan, but once applied the color’s more bronzy, less peach and less shimmery — a soft sheen as opposed to Pink Leopard’s frost.

Doesn’t NYX Tango With Bronzing Powder in When Leopard Gets a Tan ($16) look like Too Faced Pink Leopard Bronzer ($12.50) from here?

[Continue reading…]

According to Sonia Kashuk, When It Comes to Eyes, What Glitters Glows

December 14th, 2010 by Karen 38 Comments

sonia kashuk what glitters glows eye palette on karen of makeup and beauty blog

OMG! Have you heard about the party at Target?! Well, not at Target. It’s more inside Target, down by the cosmetics aisle, right in front of the Sonia Kashuk display.

Just look for the disco ball…packaging for Sonia’s limited edition What Glitters Glows Eye Palette ($15).

If it looks familiar… If it looks familiar (dÃ©jÃ vu!), you may be recalling last year’s Starry Eyes Palette, which also had big pans of shadow like these and came in similar packaging. Oh, and it had the same price ($15).

Sonia Kashuk What Glitters Glows Eye Palette

For this palette, Sonia swapped out the three cool-toned, smooth and pigmented mattes from Starry Eyes with three dynamic, neutral-toned shadows with a fascinating combination of matte/glitter finish.

I can’t believe the gray, black and brown shadows in the bottom row are available at Target, because they seem like higher end department store material to me. They come in a matte base that’s pigmented, yet still soft and easy to blend, and they’re infused with subtle flecks of sophisticated black-tie glitter (as opposed to 1996 rave glitter), which reminds me: did you ever dance with a glow stick at a rave? Yup, good times…

So I think it you like your glitter on the subtle side, like glitter good for understated holiday party looks, the shadows in the bottom row might appeal to you.

Sonia Kashuk What Glitters Glows Eye Palette
[Continue reading…]