Eyes

The Kevyn Aucoin Electropop Pro Eyeshadow Palette

December 1st, 2017 by Karen 11 Comments

Should you listen to electronic music or pop music when you’re playing around with the new $57 Kevyn Aucoin Electropop Palette? #deepmakeupthoughts

Every time I wear it, I end up listening to Pachelbel’s Canon in D at least three times, haha! We have a baby lullaby station set on Pandora, and I’m not kidding, every other song is some version of Pachebel’s Canon in D. I swear that song is holding the baby lullaby station hostage!

Electropop is a $57 limited edition eye palette with 12 electric hues and chromatic colors, and it’s all about the brights, dramatic pigment and mega metallic pearl. You’ve got color, shine and all the fun, flashy things, but they’re handled tastefully and executed with perfection.

At first, it was the brights that reeled me in, but the creamy, comfy, weightless formula sealed the deal. It’s like, dude, am I even wearing eyeshadow at all?

The Electropop shadows feel as light as a feather, much like the MAC In Extra Dimension Eyeshadows, and just like the In Extra Dimensions, they kindly stay the crap outta my fine lines. So thanks for that, Team Kevyn!

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The Eyes of Tom Ford Private Shadows in Tempete Bleue, Vertigo, Videotape and Breathless

November 30th, 2017 by Karen 25 Comments

Now your teeny, tiny Tom Ford Lips & Boys Lipsticks (and your Lips & Girls Lipsticks!) have cute li’l clutch-sized eyeshadows to play with.

The new $36 Tom Ford Private Shadow mini eyeshadows introduced in the Eyes of Tom Ford collection are just as cute as buttons! They’re about the same size as them, too.

Well, not really, but they are hella small. The dainty little pans contain 0.04 ounces of product.

There are five different finishes among the 30 shades.

Ultra Suede — a completely flat matte with no pearl
Suede — a demi-matte with subtle pearl particles
Sateen — a lustrous pearl with a glowing sheen
Vinyl — a high-shine metallic chrome
Paillette — a sequined, glittery pearl

Each single looks like a mini TF eyeshadow quad, but when you open it up, there’s a tiny little mirror and one pan of eyeshadow inside.

I’ve been playing with four of them, and every time I pull one out I think, wow, why don’t all eyeshadows blend like this?

I wish all eyeshadows blended as well as matte taupe Vertigo (an Ultra Suede shade) and demi-matte Videotape (Suede finish). They’re pigmented, buttery, and they just won’t skip. They’ll blend on top of anything flawlessly.

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Tourmaline and White Smoke, Two New Tom Ford Eye Kohl Intense Shades in the Eyes of Tom Ford Collection

November 29th, 2017 by Karen 2 Comments

tom ford tourmaline white smoke — Two new shades of eyeliner to play with at Tom Ford

If you deep dive into the Tom Ford line, passed the popular, costly quads, luxe lipsticks, lavish nail lacquers and pricey perfumes, all of which get lots of love, there’s a lesser-known collection of pigmented $36 pencils called Eye Kohl Intense, and Mink is my go-to. It’s a shimmery bronzed brown with a hint of purple (I think it looks amazing on the lower water line, BTW, and here’s why).

TF just added two new shades — a matte white called White Smoke and a satiny teal called Tourmaline. Both are part of the new Eyes of Tom Ford collection available now.

tom ford tourmaline white smoke 2 — Tourmaline and White Smoke

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It’s Shine Time for Lids With Tom Ford’s Sleek, Wet-Looking $36 Eye Gloss

November 28th, 2017 by Karen 13 Comments

tom ford eye gloss — Lids: New $36 Tom Ford Eye Gloss; Lips: NARS Give It Up Powermatte Lip Pigment

FACT: if you thought this was a new lip gloss…

…you aren’t the only one. I actually put it on my lips at first (whoops) and, FYI, it is a pretty good clear lip gloss (unofficially), but it’s even better on your eyes.

It’s comfy, clear, shiny and non-sticky (yay!). It’s Tom Ford’s new $36 Eye Gloss, and it’s part of the new Eyes of Tom Ford collection available now.

The release also includes the new Private Shadow eyeshadow singles (30 shades, $36 each), three mascaras (Spike, Shutter and Fullscreen, $45 each) and two new shades of Eye Kohl Intense liner (White Smoke and Tourmaline, $36 each).

Tom’s Eye Gloss is a lot like Rouge Bunny Rouge’s awesome Smithereens of Stars, which is really the only other super comfortable clear gloss I’ve found that I can wear for long periods of time.

Like RBR’s Eye Gloss, Tom’s is lightweight and resilient, and it doesn’t scoot around on my lids or creep into my lash lines. So, your tight line and mascara won’t smudge. Also, when you blink your eyes, you won’t feel the gloss sticking to your crease.

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NARS Wanted Eyeshadow Palette: A Cyber Monday Special

November 26th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

WANTED:

A new NARS eyeshadow palette
A piping hot gingerbread latte
A tuxedo-clad Nick Jonas to feed me chilled green grapes while I recline on a velvet fainting couch

Two days only!

If you love NARS and collect their palettes, don’t let NARS Wanted leave you wanting. It’s only going to be available for two days, first online only on Cyber Monday, November 27th, on the Sephora website, and then again two days later on November 29th on the NARS website and in person at NARS boutiques (here’s their store locator).

Ridin’ rose gold

It literally took me days to figure out that the image on the palette is a closed eye. Maybe I was too preoccupied by the rose gold action happening inside.

I love this mix of colors. The colors are flashy enough for fun but flexible enough to incorporate into responsible life looks. There are pinks, warm and neutral browns, coppers, cranberries, bronzes and a bit o’ beige for balance. Most of them are new colors, but I recognize some old faves, like matte beige Biarritz and dark brown Coconut Grove (oldie but goodie).

The BIG news: a new powder eyeshadow formula

Here’s the big thing, though: everything in the palette has a new reformulated powder formula. It’s supposed to be more pigmented than the current NARS shadow formula, but I’m not completely sold on how much more pigmented they are yet.

Granted, they are pretty pigmented, as NARS shadows usually are, but they seem maybe just a tad more pigmented than usual.

They do feel NARS soft and silky, though, and I easily get 12 hours of wear time with them.

Now, with a reformulation, you expect things to be better, and I expected there to be less fallout than usual with these, but the fallout is typical of the current formula, which isn’t all bad, because I don’t get a ton of fallout from NARS shadows anyway. I have to do a bit of cleanup underneath my eyes and on my cheeks when I use this palette, as I do with other NARS eyeshadows.

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I’m Diggin’ Distortion: The Urban Decay Distortion Eyeshadow Palette

November 24th, 2017 by Karen 20 Comments

Most of the time when people say that something is shifty…it’s not usually a good thing, but when you’re talking about the new Urban Decay Distortion Eyeshadow Palette ($49), being shifty is great.

Five “shifty” duo chrome shadows

New limited edition Distortion just landed at Urban Decay, and the kicker is that top row of pale pastel-looking eyeshadows — one, two, three, four, five.

They look pale pastel in the pans, but they’re actually duo chromes that change color in the light. They’re designed to be layered on top of the other 10 eyeshadows in the palette, the ones in the middle and bottom rows.

You can definitely also wear them on top of any other eyeshadows in your collection, too, because there’s no exclusive high-tech stuff happening here, LOL! (But wouldn’t it be kinda cool and sci-fi if there were, though?)

If you’re an artsy-fartsy type who likes to get all mad scientist on your eyeshadows, like, by whipping up your own color concoctions on a Tuesday morning just ’cause, this palette should be a lot of fun.

urban decay distortion eyeshadow palette swatches 2 — The shifty shades — Bleach, Shifty, Space, Mind Game and Blur — by themselves, and then layered on top of Territorial, one of the other eyeshadows in the palette.

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#FancyLadyThings: $165 Fresh Crème Ancienne Supreme Eye Serum

November 14th, 2017 by Karen 19 Comments

fresh creme ancienne supreme — Fresh Crème Ancienne Supreme

European monks toiled over each and every drop of this $165 (!) eye serum to make it by hand.

BY HAND.

I can’t figure out if that’s marketing creativity at its best, or if it’s just craziness. (Side note: why monks and not nuns?)

#FancyLadyThings is a scandalous (not really) new series where we talk about old money, family intrigue and fancy, high-end beauty products… Or, at least the latter.

Fresh’s new Crème Ancienne Supreme Eye Serum is supposed to do a bit of everything — moisturize, lighten dark circles, and make fine lines look less noticeable. All that good stuff. And it’s supposed to do it for all skin types.

The Fresh fam loves using plant products in their skin care, and this has red ginger and silk tree bark, among other botanicals, and most of the plant extracts and oils appear in the top half of the ingredient list, which is always a promising sign.

Ingredients

Water, Glycerin, Butylene Glycol, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Propanediol, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Alpinia Galanga Leaf Extract, Commiphora Mukul Resin Extract, Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Siegesbeckia Orientalis Extract, Tocopherol, Adenosine, Diglycerin, Polyacrylate-13, Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Glycerides, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Chlorphenesin, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Polyisobutene, Poloxamer 407, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Hydroxide, Parfum (Fragrance), Disodium EDTA, Sorbitan Isostearate, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides, Glyceryl Acrylate/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Polysorbate 20, Biosaccharide Gum-2, Caramel, Sodium Metabisulfite, Sodium Benzoate, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Salicylate

The first thing I noticed when I started using this is how moisturizing it is. It’s a heavy-duty hydrating formula, so it’s not like those eye serums that you put on your eyes and you’re like, “What? Did I just splash water on my face?” I feel confident that I can actually skip eye cream when I use this. It’s that moisturizing.

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Chanel Holiday 2017: Trait de Caractère Eyeshadow Palette

November 14th, 2017 by Karen 25 Comments

chanel trait de caractere k2 — Lids: Chanel Trait de Caractère Eyeshadow Palette ($70)

I keep waiting for that moment, that pang in my gut that so often happens with Chanel LE palettes, especially the holiday ones. It’s that moment when I realize that — OMG — this palette is worthy of worship, and I can’t live without it. I keep waiting for it to kick in with the new $70 Trait de Caractère holiday palette.

And waiting, and waiting, and waiting…

chanel trait de caractere — Trait de Caractère, the new $70 Eyeshadow Palette from the Chanel Holiday Collection (available now)

Trait de Caractère is on counters now, along with the rest of Chanel’s Holiday 2017 Collection, and I’ve worn it several times over the past few weeks, most recently to brunch with my parents (I mixed the matte brown with the shimmery taupe, blended it on my lids, then lined the lash lines with the dark green), and ya know… It’s a’ight.

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