Eyes

The Six New NARS Hardwired Eyeshadow Shades for Fall 2016

July 22nd, 2016 by Karen 22 Comments

Could there be a hidden corner of the human brain tucked away near the back that makes us hardwired to make grabby hands whenever we see shimmery, sparkly, glittery things?

Solely based on my experience, I think the answer to that is “yes,” LOL! Because homegirl wants ALL OF THE GLITTERS. 🙂

All of them…

I definitely feel that familiar, inescapable tug in my gut when I open the NARS Hardwired Eyeshadows.

NARS is adding six new shades for fall, coming exclusively to Sephora starting August 1, and holy wow! — the shimmer.

Like the previously released Hardwired Eyeshadow shades, these shine bright enough to see from across a room — heck, or across town. Maybe from across state lines, even.

These highly pigmented powder shadows have varying levels of glitter, shimmer and pearl, so you get a lot of light reflecting back when you pop them on your skin. It’s very eye-catching.

nars hardwired parallax — Wearing NARS Hardwired Eyeshadow in Parallax on my lids

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For Full, Natural-Looking Brows, Fill in Your Sparse Spots With a Flat Eyeshadow Brush

July 21st, 2016 by Karen 13 Comments

My new favorite fill-in-those brows trick is to fill in the sparse spots using a flat eyeshadow brush and brow powder or an eyeshadow.

I’m always in favor of, like, evolving and switching up your brow game, because I just think it’s fun to try different products, methods and looks, and this brow look, I feel, is one of the most natural looking. And it’s super duper easy.

The trick is to use a flat eyeshadow brush with a stiff, dense brush head. I alternate between a MAC 239 and a Burberry No. 08 (whatever one is closest and/or less dirty, ha!), and all I do is load the brush with an eyeshadow that’s slightly lighter than my natural brow color.

I use MAC Brun, which is a matte dark brown, and the reason I go with something slightly lighter than my natural brow color is because if I don’t, and I use a black shade closer to my natural hair color, all I can see are BROWS, BROWS, BROWS.

It’s too much.

Using an ever-so-slightly lighter shade tones it down.

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The It Cosmetics Superhero Palette Has a Smoooooth Superpower

July 21st, 2016 by Karen 21 Comments

The new $42 It Cosmetics Superhero Palette should just put on a cape and soar across the sky already.

Like the next summer superhero movie…it’s coming soon! — to the It Cosmetics website (August) and Ulta (September), and its superhero power is allegedly that it has the ability to help lids look as though they’ve turned back time.

it cosmetics superhero palette 1 — What’s your superhero power?

In addition to the nine incredibly smooth powder eyeshadows in the main row, which are divided among Nudes, Neutrals and Liners, the palette also has three larger Eye Foundation shades, which are good base colors for your entire eyelid.

I think my lids look really smooth with these shadows, and the formula is also supposed to help lids long term, thanks to anti-aging collagen, silk, peptides and antioxidants.

it cosmetics superhero palette k2 — Wearing Pow! all over my lid, Superstar from my lash line into the crease, and Superhero along the lash line

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The Day in Beauty Vol. 22: The MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Eyeshadows and Baby Steps

July 11th, 2016 by Karen 29 Comments

mac bangin brilliant eyeshadows 1 — MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Eyeshadows in Up At Dawn, Suspiciously Sweet, Fashion’s Field Day, I’m Into It, Oh My Mocha! and Ruddy

Can I just raise my crazy cat lady coffee cup to you for your great advice in the comments on this post the other day? Thank you!

I read every single comment, and I’ve just been thinking about them and taking everything you said to heart.

Honestly, sweets, what would I do without you? For all of these years… I don’t even know. From makeup advice to baby advice to keeping my head above water. Thank you! You’re wonderful. 🙂

mac banging brilliant eyeshadows 2 — MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Eyeshadows in Shock Factor, New Crop, Teal Appeal, In The Shadows, Zinc Blue and How Royal

So like I said, I’ve been taking everything you said to heart, and last weekend I just did what I could handle, which was 20 minutes using some non-neutral shadows.

I used two from the new MAC Bangin’ Brilliant collection — which, yeah, you may have noticed that bright teal and that neon yellow waving at you from across the room up there, LOL! — and gave myself 20 minutes.

I told myself, “You know what? If it turns out sloppy, fine. I haven’t done any fancy blending in a while, so whatever happens, happens. No pressure.”

And this is what happened! I ended up with a lightly smoky, sort of purplish, coralish shimmery look. And even though I could’ve done it better, and the perfectionist in me is kind of poking me in the ribs, at least I did it, ya know? At least I tried something a little ambitious this time, and I’m happy about that.

mac banging brilliant — Wearing MAC Fashion’s Field Day Eyeshadow on my inner lid and Oh My Mocha! Eyeshadow on my outer lid; on my lips I’m wearing NARS Lodhi

So, the shadows here — part of MAC Bangin’ Brilliant — they launched last month at select MAC locations and online. The release was called a “collection” (airquotes), but really, it was mostly just an introduction to some bright new Eyeshadows, Dazzleshadows, Powder Blushes and Lipsticks that were added to the MAC permanent line.

Here are pictures of 12 of the 14 eyeshadows, which are $16 each.

The underlying (albeit in your face) theme here is brights, and one of these days, hopefully soon, I’ll get that shimmery teal shadow, Teal Appeal, on my lids. 🙂

mac bangin brilliant eyeshadow swatches — MAC Bangin’ Brilliant Eyeshadow swatches from the left in Up At Dawn, Suspiciously Sweet, Fashion’s Filed Day, I’m Into It, Oh My Mocha! and Ruddy

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The Day in Beauty Vol. 19: Benefit Ready, Set, Brow! and Squid With Glowing Eyeshadow

June 18th, 2016 by Karen 16 Comments

Seriously, I don’t know why I keep trying, because every single time I try to make a kissy face in a photo, I feel like I look completely ridiculous.

How do girls do it?!

How do they take those kissy face pictures and look cute? It’s one of life’s mysteries I’ll never understand…

But I keep trying, like I am here with my latest crush from Benefit, Ready, Set, Brow! ($24)

It’s a freaking awesome clear brow gel, and I never thought I’d be raving again about a brow gel other than Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel, which had been my absolutely loyal ride-or-die for a while (I can’t even tell you how many tubes I’ve gone through), so much so that I always stocked up whenever Sephora had a VIB sale, but I don’t know if that’s going to be happening anymore with Ready, Set, Brow! in my life.

Basically, it’s really, really good, maybe even be better than Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel.

Now, you might be thinking, “Karen, it’s a clear brow gel. How mind-blowing can it be?”

Well, pretty mind-blowing!

You know that look of brushed-up brows that’s really popular right now? I can never get that exact look with Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel. Even though it seems like it has good hold and usually keeps my brows in place, I don’t think it’s strong enough to hold my brow hairs in place when I want them to go places they don’t naturally want to go.

Maybe my brow hairs are just too unruly… I don’t know.

But I can never quite get that Cara Delevigne pushed-up brow look with Anastasia’s Clear Brow Gel, but with Benefit’s bad boy, I totally can.

The brush has teeny, tiny teeth, which are great at grabbing and maniuplating the hairs, so I can really get in there and push them around (Anastasia’s, by comparison, has a brush that looks like a regular old mascara brush).

Plus, the gel itself has extra super duper strong hold and dries stiffer than Anastasia’s. I could probably jump out of an airplane or stand in front of a Beyoncé fan with this stuff in my brows and they wouldn’t move.

Ready, Set, Brow! comes out in a few days on June 24. Look for it when it does because it’s a winner.

urban decay space cowboy moondust — Glitter!

Oh, and that glittery action in that picture on my lids? That’s Urban Decay Moondust Eyeshadow in Space Cowboy. The Moondusts are part of Urban Decay’s permanent line, and they’re astronomically sparkly.

Right before I took these pics, I was wearing a really basic 15-minute neutral look, and you know how it is — you’re puttering around, but then you get the urge to do something jazzy with what you’re wearing, so I took Space Cowboy, which is basically like a pressed golden peachy beige glitter in a pan, and picked up some of it by swirling a finger in the pan. Then I pressed it on my lids.

Et voilà! Sparkle for days.

If using your fingers freaks you out, you could also load up a flat eyeshadow brush and spray it with something like Make Up For Ever Mist and Fix before applying it to your lids.

I mean, you could also spray the brush first, then dip it into the pan (which is what a lot of peeps do), but when I do that, it changes the texture of the eyeshadow when it dries.

Just a quick tip there! 🙂

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I’ll Save the First, Last and Every Dance in Between for the Tom Ford Last Dance Eye Quad

June 16th, 2016 by Karen 29 Comments

It’s totally fine if you don’t know the words to Donna Summer’s disco classic, Last Dance, right now, but just know that from this moment onward, whenever I open the Tom Ford Last Dance Eye Quad to marvel at its golden taupe, beige, forest green and glittery midnight blue deliciousness in your presence, you’re going to have to sing the song with me.

Sorry, those are the rules! 🙂

So you’re gonna have to learn the words. Here, you can practice with the video…

When I’m bad, I’m so, so baaaaad!

P.S. When I was in high school, my friend Jen and I would sing Donna Summer songs all day, every day (especially in the car). Yes, I’m a not-so-secret Donna Summer fan.

Now back to the quad!

Somewhere between that first month with Connor, when I was getting, like, no sleep and would go to Panera Bread in my pajamas just to get of the house for 15 minutes (by the way, I was the lady with the unkept hair and dark circles eating the salad and crying), and today, the Tom Ford Last Dance Quad became my go-to Tom Ford eyeshadow quad.

I can’t say that it’s my favorite Tom Ford quad of all time, because upon that pedestal sits the regal Cognac Sable (which, I’ll never understand why, was discontinued!), but it’s definitely up right there.

I love it.

If you lean toward neutrals but also like fun pops of color, you’ll wanna literally AND figuratively dance with this quad.

With higher-end/designer/expensive makeup, in particular, I always feel like if the brand’s charging as much as they are, the makeup had better pass muster.

I ask myself, “Self, is this something I know I’ll be able to wear at least three times a week without getting tired of it?” Because, as you know, there’s a lot of great makeup out there that costs less than $80, and just because something is expensive doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good.

With pricey products like an $80 Tom Ford quad, OK isn’t good enough. It should be so good that I swoon on my fainting couch!

Thankfully (or, perhaps, unfortunately), the Tom Ford Last Dance Eye Quad isn’t just OK. It’s great. I think it’s fantastic for everyday neutral makeup.

That golden taupe? Oh, gorgeous! Whenever I get it on my lids, I feel like I’m discovering golden taupe for the first time. And the beige? It’s that kind of shiny that isn’t frosty, which is one of Tom Ford’s strengths when it comes to eyeshadow. He’s really good at that glistening, high fashion, glossy (but not frosty’80s-style) look.

Yeah, the two neutrals might not be as dramatic as a crazy rainbow glitter duochrome, but there’s no fallout, they’re hella pigmented, they’re a breeze to blend, they last all day long and, to top it all off, they’re abso-freakin’-lutely gorgeous, and I could wear them every single day.

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The Edgiest Kohl Shadowstick by The Estée Edit Is Certainly Edgier Than Most

June 15th, 2016 by Karen 30 Comments

estee edit edgiest eye kohl — Wearing The Edgiest Kohl Shadowsticks in Iced and Grounded from The Estée Edit ($22 each)

I don’t know if I’d call these “The Edgiest,” because I don’t see Khal Drogo or Robert Smith, who are in my mind two of the edgiest makeup-wearing peeps around, rolling up to a Sephora and making a beeline for The Edgiest Kohl Shadowsticks from The Estée Edit (I see them more as NARS guys), but I’d certainly call them “Edgier Than Most,” or “Somewhat Reasonably Edgy…”

I mean, they aren’t so edgy that I feel tempted to use them to color in my adult coloring books, which, doesn’t that sound funny? As if you’d open a coloring book and see, like, “adult” (airquotes) things in there? Haha, nasty…

FUN FACT: Adult color books are actually just regular coloring books, except they’re for adults, and they’re currently very trendy. And yes, sometimes I’m tempted to color mine in with makeup.

But I digress…

So, these aren’t your standard-issue chunky-monkey shadowsticks, because you can use them on your lids like an eyeshadow or along your water lines and lash lines like a liner (except for the purple shade, which says that it’s only for lids and lash lines), so they’re two-for-one products for $22.

I’m hooked on three of the nine shades — Violet Taboo (a glittery, shimmery violet), Grounded (a pearly brown with a hint of grey) and Iced (a stark white).

All of them feel smooth against my skin, kinda like when you leave ice cream out on the counter for a while and it gets all soft and runny… Thank goodness they’re not like those hard kohl pencils that feel like I’m poking my eyes out with a rough piece of plastic, because those are never fun.

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The Absolute Best-of-the-Best Eyeliners

June 9th, 2016 by Jen Clark 11 Comments

Makeup forever xl aqua eyeliner stila liquid eyeliner the balm schwing — My top three, best-of-the-best eyeliners!

Eyeliner has to be my most loved makeup product…or one of them, at least. I have been OBSESSED with winged liner for a really, really long time now, and I’ve tried soooo many eyeliners over the years in the quest to get the perfect wing. Let’s be honest…so many of them just plain suck, but these three are amazing.

The reason I love winged liner, and just eyeliner in general, is because you can use it to really accentuate your eyes. My eyes are a little on the small side, so I try to make them pop as much as possible! I even did a tutorial on winged eyeliner in four easy steps over on my blog.

Eyeliner is one of those things that’s either really good, or really, really bad. There isn’t usually much of an in between. Normally when I buy new makeup, if it isn’t super great, I can usually make it work until I finish it up, but not with eyeliner. To have your liner look good, the liner has to actually be good.

I guess that makes me kind of an eyeliner snob! I only use the best of the best, and one of these three is always in my makeup bag.

1. Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner ($22)

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eye Liner in Black ($22)

I keep purchasing Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner over and over again because it never fails me! It has a thin felt tip and a fine point, so you can easily get a nice sharp wing with it without trying too hard. By kind of laying it on its side, you can drag it and quickly line along your lash line as well. With the opaque black formula, you never have to add a second coat, either, which is so nice! I’ve also noticed that if you keep the cap snapped on really tight, it lasts for months. I hate it when an eyeliner dries out after just a couple of weeks, but you should never have that problem with this one.

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eye Liner felt tip

best eyeliner — Push lightly to get a super thin line, or apply more pressure to get a thicker line

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