Eyes

Girl Meets Curl: The New Chanel Le Volume De Chanel Mascara Incites Eyelash Excitement in This Mascara Enthusiast

November 12th, 2012 by Karen 39 Comments

chanel le volume de chanel mascara noir — The new Chanel Le Volume de Chanel Mascara in Noir

Who says makeup can’t influence the weather?

Chanel’s latest mascara does exactly that. When I wave it over my head outdoors, the clouds part, beams of sunlight rain down, and distant trumpets start playing.

LOL! Seriously, I’m not kidding. 🙂

To put it another way, I’m in the process of stuffing that new Sterilite 4-Drawer tote I told you about. I’m filling it with makeup and beauty products I intend to use often — my standbys — so that I have a nice, organized set of essentials in one place.

Well, I just replaced six other tubes of mascara in the tote with this new one from Chanel.

Now that’s love.

It’s the new $30 Chanel Le Volume de Chanel Mascara, and it’s available in a single shade called Noir.

Next time I have to get up and get out the door before dawn to catch an early flight, this will be in my makeup bag. No doubt about it.

Jet black and built for bold, yet elegant, lash looks from a single coat, Le Volume de Chanel thickens, lengthens and separates.

So it’s one of those makeup triple threats…

Carbon black pigments hug lashes in black cat color, while the formula, rich in camelia oil, nourishes and moisturizes those little lash hairs.

The buxom brush bristles with short, nubby stubs. It’s a new design for Chanel, one they call their “snowflake wand,” and it’s supposed to build bigger lashes by thoroughly, quickly coating each lash from root to tip.

I wore the dickens out of it last weekend, and in a word, “BAM!” One layer delivers the lush lashes I love, without clumping, smudging or flaking, and the formula holds a curl sky high all day long.

It reminds me of YSL Faux Cils, except with a little better length. And where Faux Cils tends to concentrate more volume at the roots, Le Volume distributes it more evenly along the lash.

Chanel Le Volume de Chanel mascara in Noir — Those are my bare lashes in the top pic, and that’s me wearing one coat of Chanel Le Volume in the bottom

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Cat Eyes With a Twist, and an Open Letter to Jeremy Renner

November 6th, 2012 by Karen 26 Comments

Dear Jeremy Renner,

It’s been a while…

Okay, we’ve never actually communicated, but I quite enjoy writing you these letters and will continue to do so because 1) I have a tendency to babble, and 2) you’re so very, very hot.

Jeremy, I have a proposition for you.

Do you remember the Kelly Clarkson concert I mentioned going to last Saturday?

Of course you do. Well, since the show, I’ve been listening to a lot of Kelly’s music, and I’ve grown particularly fond of Don’t Rush, her new country duet with Vince Gill.

Here’s my idea: you, me, a karaoke bar and that song.

Awesomeness, right? You could gaze adoringly into my eyes as we sing the chorus (please!), but I should warn you — don’t be distracted by my cool cat eyeliner, with its extra little twist.

Yeah, it’s a new look I’ve been rocking all day long.

It’s like a regular cat eye, except with an extra, second wing running parallel to the main flick.

I saw it on the artwork for Kelly’s single, Already Gone, and thought, “Haaay! How cool is that?!”

And it wasn’t even that hard to do. I started with a regular cat eye using my favorite gel liner, MAC Blacktrack, and my go-to Sonia Kashuk Bent Liner Brush. Then, when I finished with the cat eye, I drew a tiny extra flick on each eye.
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Share a Tip Tuesdays: This Eye Makeup Tip Will Have You Busting Out Those Bright Eyeshadows More Often

November 6th, 2012 by Karen 34 Comments

Among the many eyeshadow palettes making their way into the hearts and homes of lovely ladies and makeup-lurving gents this holiday season, I’m betting there’s bound to be at least one (or two!) bright colors in the mix, and if you’re anything like me, some of those brights can be completely terrifying.

For me, it’s usually the bright pinks…

I have no qualms about wearing bright pink on my lips, but my eyes are a different story. It’s like, bright eyeshadows take a different kind of cajones, and sometimes I just don’t feel cool enough to pull them off.

But I know it’s just a state of mind, and so over the weekend, I busted out some of the bright eyeshadows I hardly ever wear and began to experiment. I was just messing around when I stumbled on something by accident…

Wow! Starting with a black base works wonders for bright eyeshadows!

And pretty much any formula should work, be it paint pot, smudgy liner or a creamy kohl. Just apply on your lids, smudge it out, and pat your bright eyeshadow directly on top. The black base sort of grounds the bright shadow, toning it down.

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Bond Girl Makeup Looks Inspired by the OPI Skyfall Collection: From The World Is Not Enough, Elektra King

November 5th, 2012 by Karen 27 Comments

An Elektra King Bond Girl makeup look — An Elektra King Bond girl makeup look inspired by the OPI Skyfall collection nail polish in The World Is Not Enough

“James?”

“Yes, M?”

“Be…careful.”

“Always.”

“No, James, I mean it. This Tabs character is…dangerous. This whole playboy tabby supermodel persona of his is just a cover. We know he’s up to something… We just don’t know what it is yet.”

“What do we know about his current location?”

“We know you’re close. He was spotted last night at a Petco in Novato, and we expect him to return there tonight. He appears to have a penchant for gravy…”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“I want you to be there when he arrives at the Petco tonight.”

“And?”

“Bring him in, James. I want you to stop that cat.”

. . .

T-minus four days till the new Bond movie unleashes suave justice on American movie goers and I. CAN’T. WAIT.

I grew up on a steady diet of James Bond. 🙂 Both of my parents loved the movies, and when I was a kid, whenever a new one would come out, my folks would pack us all up in the car, and take us to the local drive-in.

Yep, I said drive-in. We used to have an actual drive-in movie theater in our town (some years ago the lot was turned into a strip mall).

Skyfall, the latest film in the Bond franchise, opens this Friday nationwide, and OPI recently released a new 12-piece Bond movie-inspired nail polish collection of the same name.

I was taking a shower the other day when I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to do a series of makeup looks inspired by Bond girls and the colors in the new OPI Skyfall collection?

Yes, yes, I think it would. 🙂

And for the first one, how about Elektra King? She plays cat and mouse with Bond in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough.

It’s not one of my favorite Bond films — I cracked up laughing at the pained expression Pierce Brosnan makes in the unintentionally funny seduction/torture scene below — but I love, LOVE the nail polish based on the movie in the Skyfall collection!

OPI The World Is Not Enough from the Skyfall collection

It’s a shimmery purplish taupe with tiny flecks of glitter, and it looks almost like a silvery khaki sometimes, depending on the light.

So beautiful…

opi the world is not enough swatch — Wearing three coats of OPI’s The World Is Not Enough (but you could probably get away with two)

In the 1999 movie, Elektra King is played by the gorgeous Sophie Marceau. There’s a scene during which she puts JB through hell while wearing a sultry smokey eye and a full-length purple, taupe and black gown — you know, because when you’re inflicting pain upon an international super spy, why settle for sweats?

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Unsung Heroes: Benefit Skinny Jeans Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner

November 5th, 2012 by Karen 39 Comments

Aaand this is how much I love Benefit’s $19 Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in Skinny Jeans…

Yeah, THAT much.

I just picked up my umpteenth pot and figured it was high time I publically professed my love for this shimmery cream eyeshadow.

Why? Because these Skinny Jeans are astronomical! — in that they also moonlight as an eyeliner and an eyeshadow base.

Benefit describes the color as a “pretty pewter,” but I think Skinny Jeans is more complex than that. On my NC42 skin, it’s like an alchemist’s brew, an enchanting blend of khaki, gray and taupe.

So pretty!

Question: how are real skinny jeans like zombies? Answer: they keep coming back from the dead! Seriously, what’s up with that? Just when I think skinny jeans have gone out of style forever, they come back! Which reminds me…OMG! Last night’s The Walking Dead!!

I happen to love these skinny jeans, because unlike the tapered Guess acid-washed pair (with the zippers on the ankles) I wore in eighth grade, these always fit. 🙂

You know how a black blazer can really dress up a pair of jeans and a white tee? Well, that’s what I think Skinny Jeans does for my eyes.

If I’m wearing something basic and simple — like maybe a sheer lip balm, a dash of cream blush and a couple coats of mascara — Skinny Jeans on my lids and lower lash lines adds some polish to the look and turns things up a notch.

I’ll happily wear this Creaseless Cream/Liner any time of year, but because it has some smokiness to it, my favorite times to wear it are fall and winter.

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The Bobbi Brown Rich Caviar Eye Palette Hosts a Sumptuous Feast of Mattes, Shimmers and Glitters

November 2nd, 2012 by Karen 13 Comments

Bobbi Brown Rich Caviar Eye Palette

If Tabs wasn’t so hell bent on mugging hard for the camera in these pics, it would probably be easier to appreciate the finer points of the new Bobbi Brown Rich Caviar Eye Palette ($47.50), like its mix of mattes, shimmers and glitters, or how its color palette of olive, gold, beige, taupe, gray and dark brown eyeshadows looks kinda like tabby coloring.

Bobbi Brown Rich Caviar Eye Palette

Even when I shoo’d him out of the shot, he still found a way to get in the frame (see the tabby tail in the lower right-hand corner?).

Bobbi Brown Rich Caviar Eye Palette

The Rich Caviar Eye Shadow Palette, $47.50

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Even Brows Need Good Arch Support, and the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil Delivers That

October 31st, 2012 by Karen 24 Comments

Did you hear the news?? TMZ is reporting that pop princess/cat lady Katy Perry attended the SF Giants victory parade in San Francisco today. 🙂

And that’s not all. Surrounded by throngs of rowdy revelers, she threw an impromptu concert!

LOL! Yeah, that’s me hammin’ it up…

Dude! I have to tell you about a great product I used today, but before that, you ever play Where’s Waldo?

Or how about Where’s Marmalade? Can you spot him in the top pic? I figured that since Katy’s a cat lady, I ought to have at least one kitteh with me on tour.

Please, I implore you, don’t tell Tabs…

So, that blue wig? I LOVE IT! But too bad it hid my brows today, because I think they looked pretty darned fierce thanks to the new $32 Hourglass Arch Sculpting Brow Pencil.

Surprise! — I was running late getting out of the house in Katy costume this morning and had a lot to do, but only 10 minutes to do it in, so I raced through everything. Quickly, I filled in my brows with Arch’s awesome twist-up triangle tip, using broad strokes with one of its longer edges to fatten the sparse spots.

After that, I sculpted the ends a little, sharpening them using the triangle’s tip. All told, it probably took about a minute.

Of course, the brows were concealed by my wig…but I knew they were there, looking all full and fabulous, as opposed to harsh, ala Cruella de Vil.

According to Hourglass, the Arch Sculpting Brow Pencil’s formula combines the benefits of a powder and a wax to create brows that look soft, natural and full. Not quite hard like a stiff eye liner, or soft like a creamy kohl, the consistency has a little give to it. It’s firm, but not too firm, and it feels almost powdery. Soft wax within the formula binds the powdery pigments to each individual hair, keeping the strays in line.

I’m sporting a pretty strong brow look in these before and after pics, but I could’ve toned it down by running the included brow brush, which is on the opposite end of the pencil, through my brows.

hourglass arch review before after — Before (left) and after (right)

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Peanut Butter and Jelly, Meet Black Liner and Red Lipstick (Another Power Couple): The New Hourglass Icon Collection and Film Noir Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse

October 30th, 2012 by Karen 35 Comments

Wearing the new Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss in Icon and Film Nor Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse, and thinking about a PB&J sandwich…

The six or seven (no kidding) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I ate last week got me thinking about other great pairings, like Bogie and Bacall, Hall and Oats, Nutella and anything, and red lips and black liner…

Red lips and black liner — a quick and easy, everyday combo that always hits the spot (much like, in my case, creamy peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwiches on super soft, fresh bread).

But woman cannot live on sandwiches alone. No, this one also needs makeup! Like these pieces from the new Hourglass holiday collection — four long-wearing, blueish red lip products in a shade called Icon ($28-30 each), and a black pencil liner called Eclipse (the $28 Film Noir Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse, which is also available in a brown called Espresso).

Altogether, they’re like comfort food (but for your face). 🙂