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Honestly, though, I don’t blame you for your NARSissicism. I understand, I really do. That would be like blaming Tabs for being beautiful or the sky for being blue.
No, I blame the NARSissist Smokey Eye Kit ($59), that gorgeous three-piece palette in front of you. 🙂
With a matte beige, a deep matte brown and a shimmery golden brown eyeshadow (as well as a miniature black liner and a travel-sized contouring brush) in it, really, how could you not get NARSissistic on that @ss?
**RING! RING!**
KAREN: What up?
RYGOS: ‘What up?’ Are you serious? Why can’t you say hello like a normal person?
KAREN: Why can’t you stop being the subject of countless Internet memes?
RYGOS: Touché…
KAREN: Mm-hmm.
RYGOS: Can you talk for a second?
KAREN: Well, now that you ask, I’m in the middle of a review for the new NARS Night Series Eyeliners —
RYGOS: Cool. Hey, so —
KAREN: You just interrupted me.
RYGOS: Did I?
KAREN: Yeah.
RYGOS: Sorry.
KAREN: It’s OK…
RYGOS: So do you like them?
KAREN: What?
RYGOS: The liners.
KAREN: I do. They’re these new glittery ones based on the NARS Night Series eyeshadows. They’re smooth and pigmented and last a long time, even on bare lids without primer. Only thing is, I can’t use them on my water lines.
RYGOS: Why’s that?
KAREN: The glitter. My eyes are really sensitive, and any time I get glitter up on my water lines, they freak out. And as a general rule, you usually don’t want glitter anywhere it could scratch your eyes.
Wait a second — I know you didn’t call to talk about eyeliner and glitter, so what’s up?
RYGOS: I have some news…
KAREN: Oh, yeah? Is this legit news or the start of some BS joke on my behalf?
RYGOS: I don’t do that.
KAREN: Oh, yes you do! Remember that one about the new line of luxury cat accessories you were working on with Chanel, and you were sending me and Tabs diamond-studded necklaces and collars to wear?
RYGOS: Oh…
KAREN: Yeah, I harassed the FedEx guy for weeks. Weeks!
RYGOS: Hahaha! Sucker.
KAREN: I learned my lesson.
RYGOS: But I really do have news.
KAREN: OK, what’s this news? The suspense is killing me.
RYGOS: Well…it’s about me and Eva. We’re having a baby.
Hey, surfer girl, hey.
Sure, have a seat next to me on the towel. You can put your board over there by the Surf Palette — yeah, that one with the linen packaging and the four glittery shadows, three shimmer shadows and beige matte shadow inside.
It’s cute, yeah? All of us in the group have one… You should totally get one, too!
Cat lady surfer says what meow?[/caption]
QUESTION: Why use a blue eyeshadow instead of a blue liner?
ANSWER: Why not?
Picture it: dark blue liner coupled with super deep, dark, almost black nails, only, instead of using a pencil, gel or liquid liner, you use a powder eyeshadow.
Do you ever just get stuck in a rut and feel like you’re wearing nothing but brown and beige? Feel like trying something different but don’t want to go over the top?
I’m always looking for ways to keep things interesting for myself, especially when it comes to wearable makeup looks — ideally chic and wearable, but not totally snooze-worthy, if you catch my drift.
One day I decided to pair dark blue liner with dark blue claws, and the first thing I thought when I finished was, “Why haven’t I done this before?”
Using a dark blue eyeshadow as a liner, instead of a dark blue pencil, gel or liquid eyeliner, creates a more diffused edge, so the overall effect looks softer.
I’ve done it with lots of different liner styles, too, like spicy cat eye looks, and even soft washes of color, where the liner is smudged along my upper and lower lash lines.
Sometimes I’m just in the mood for a blurred edge (and the accompanying less attention to detail).
I like seeing the flash of dark blue on my fingers whenever I tuck my bangs behind my ears or push my (nerdy Gamma Ray computer glasses) up.
And it think it sort of reinforces the blue liner, too. You know, more blue.
I also like how the softer liner contrasts with the harder edge of the dark blue nails, so you also have that contrasty thing going.
For this cat liner look, I applied metallic dark blue NARS Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow in Giove ($29) with an angled brush.
First, I applied it dry to create the shape of the cat eye and get that softer edge. Then I wet the brush head, dipped it back into the pan, and applied the shadow on my lash line close to the lashes, to sort of intensify the metallic finish and crete a subtle gradient.
You could definitely keep it simpler by picking one — just wet or just dry — but ya know. I’m just saying.
Lots of bad-@ssery happening around this li’l pen. 🙂
Picture Jeremy Renner doing one-armed pushups, Ryan Gosling petting kittens, and James Bond, aka Daniel Craig, in a tuxedo feeding you Oreos dipped in real milk.
BAM!
Yeah, as much as I like almond milk, it’s total bullsh*t with Oreos, but I digress…
Back to the bad-@ssery I mentioned, I guess it shouldn’t come as a big surprise considering the cost of this particular pen, the Chanel Ecriture De Chanel liquid eyeliner pen in Noir. It’s $35 (!). But in this case, I think you get what you pay for.
One of two liquid pen liners in Chanel’s new fall collection (there’s also one called Brun, a brown, and a gray called Anthracite, which is part of the permanent collection), Noir has some good things going for it.
Like midnight in the middle of the earth, Noir is dark! The color is true black, deep and intense, without any blue or green undertones, and you won’t be spending hella years waiting for it to dry. One pass leaves a full, solid line of dark color.
It’s also super shiny — almost as shiny as the MAC Superslicks — and lasts 8-12 hours, during which time it does not move, even on unprimed, naked lids.
Yeah, that’s sturdy.
Only thing, it’s not waterproof, so don’t go jumping on the treadmill when you wear it. If you perspire half as much as I do, you’ll end up with two panda eyes.
I’m just sayin’.
Also, with some liquid liners, I have to let them dry for a while with my eyes closed so they don’t transfer up into the crease, but not with Noir. It dries that fast.
OK, now, I know we’re not talking about reinventing the wheel here. It’s just a black liner — a pretty basic staple — but I sure love this one’s felt tip.
For me, felt tips usually fall into one of two categories.
Not a lot of bend…
Chanel Ecriture’s tip is a hybrid of the two. It’s a little stiff, but still has some flex.
You still get that sort of wiggly glide you get from thin, uber-flexible liners, but at the same time the tip is stiff enough to really get between the roots of your lashes, especially those teeny, tiny hairs (I usually have to switch to a pencil liner to reach, but I can reach them with this liner).
Weirdly, the first time I touched this tip, I was like, “Yeah, no dice. There’s no frickin’ way.” Because it felt a little stiff, and I usually have a hard time with that, but this one I can actually use.
Mind you, there is a learning curve (well there was for me). I like to look down into a mirror, and holding the tip parallel to my lash line (along the edge, not the tippy-tip), press once in the inner corner, then again in the center, and then again in the outer corner to complete the line across.
One, two, three — Tabs, stop meowing! Tabs is meowing in the background right now. He’s driving me a little crazy. I think it’s because I’m talking about black liner and he’s like, “Haha! I have built-in liner, and mine is always perfect!”
I’m about as rock ‘n’ roll as a porcelain cat figurine sitting on a lace doily, but I’m not gonna let that stop me from releasing my inner headbanger!
Rock, rock, rock, ROCK!
No, really. ’80s Billy Idol would totally hate me. He’d, like, sneer at me because I’d want to go home early because “I have to be in bed by 10.”
Actually 9:30. OK, 9.
But maybe he’d hate me less if I were wearing the new Too Faced Rock N Roll Palette ($36)…
One of three palettes in the Too Faced Smitten Kitten collection for fall 2014 (the others are Country and Cat Eyes), Rock N Roll has a couple things in common with its siblings. Like the others, it houses nine eyeshadows in three rows, with each of the rows corresponding to a different makeup look — day, classic and fashion.
With a focus on jewel tones, Rock N Roll’s shadows are richer and more intense than the others, so if you like the way you look in jewels, and particularly if you have a medium or darker skin tone and don’t want to spend eternity packing on shadows to get them to show up on you, this one is definitely swatch worthy.
I’m thinking it. You’re thinking it. We’re all thinking it. So let’s just come out and say it. 🙂
These are some very UD-like colors — a deep green, a dark blue, an intense purple, and glitter for days.
That said, there are far worse things in life than channeling Urban Decay.
Rock N Roll’s colors have a harder edge to ’em, but at the same time, I think they’re still very girly. It’s glam meets pretty — something I think Too Faced does exceptionally well. Perfect for a Too Faced Cosmetics girl going to a Metallica concert with her metalhead boyfriend, ya feel me?
[INSERT SIGN OF THE BEAST HERE, AND TRY NOT TO CONFUSE IT WITH “I LOVE YOU” WHEN YOU’RE IN HEAD-BANGING MODE.]
Think tough with a little tenderness to it. Even with the more intense shades, the darkest you get is navy blue Heavy Metal, deep green Punk and dark brown Ska, which, by the way, is like a shimmery version of MAC Brun (LOVE!). I’m wearing it in the crease in these pics.
Even then, the colors aren’t too harsh or dark.
Let me put it this way: these shadows easily last through the encore. Same goes for the other fall palettes. With Rock N Roll, I get 8-10 hours with just a bit of fading starting around hour 8.
Giddyup, girl! Let’s get a move on! Go grab your cutest dress, and I’ll get your boots, because we’re double-dating in Music City tonight!
Well, I mean, figuratively… Not in the literal sense, although I wish, right?! I’m referring to the new Country Nashville Nudes Eye Shadow Collection ($36) of nine powder shadows by Too Faced Cosmetics, the brand’s latest palette for fall.
This one’s all about country charm and the glamour of Nashville.
It’s a versatile mix of beige, gold and pinky nudes peppered with deeper blues, purples, brown and gray — mostly in neutral and cooler color temps — but not so cool that warmer-toned vixens won’t also be able to wear it.
Eight of the nine shadows contain varying levels of shimmer and glitter, while the other shade, a sheer, cool-toned peachy matte, adds a touch of contrast.
Compared to Rock ‘n’ Roll, its counterpart palette also released this fall, Country seems sweeter and more delicate to me — perfect for everyday glam (see: wearing wedding makeup on a random Wednesday).
The nude shades here have a subtlety about them, and even with the darker blues, purples and brown, there’s nothing too hard-edged about this palette. The colors shouldn’t appear overly harsh, not even on the lightest lasses. That said, I think Country will rock hard on cooler toned cowgirls with light and medium skin tones.
Ragdoll, Siamese, American shorthair, tortie — whether you’re a sassy alley cat or a purebred princess, there’s something in Too Faced’s new Cat Eyes Palette for you.
Upon this new fall palette, Too Faced bestowed nine new shades, each with a kitty-themed name (aww!). Inside the leopard-print packaging hide six powder eyeshadows and three powder eyeliners, which you can use wet or dry (you can also use the eyeliners as eyeshadows), to create a variety of cat eye looks.
There’s more than enough here to take you from pampered house kitty to prowling jungle cat — phht! phht! — in a few swipes of your paw.
The palette contains some warm and cool shades, with a mix of neutrals (beige, bronze, brown and black), and a catnip sprinkling of purple, pink and metallic blue gray.
Your cat nephew Tabs, also known as my boss, insisted that I wear the palette for a couple days before divulging my thoughts. I asked him this morning what he thought of the wearable daytime cat eye I did with the brown, bronze and black shades (Leopard, Tiger’s Eye and Panther), and he replied, “Mrrow. Meeee-ooow!”
Sadly, I am not fluent in cat, but I ran the phrase through Google Translate and got: “You look less to’-up than usual. I approve.” 🙂
I like the variety colors in this palette, and in my eyeshadow experiments with it I’ve found that it really lights up my lids. Most of the shades have a metallic, frost or glitter finish, which makes for beautifully glowing eyes.
