Eyes

Drawing the Human Body, Literally, With the New Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic Pencils

May 29th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

I think I’m going to start calling makeup shopping “art supply shopping.” That way, when I get something new and sneak it into the house in my XXL purse (NOTE: this is a good way to avoid the, “Do you really need another pink gloss?” convo with El Hub), I won’t exactly be fibbing, since pencil-shaped makeup really is a thing these days. 🙂

Case in point: the new Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic twist-up eyeshadow pencils ($21 each), which look equally at home on a makeup vanity or an easel.

And if El Hub asks what I’m doing, I’ll just say that I’ve taken up drawing (…on my face, haha!).

These long-wearing creamy shadows can be used as eyeshadows or as eyeshadow bases, and they’re supposed to be smudge-proof, waterproof, creamy and creaseless and stay that way all day long without fading.

“This eye shadow pencil glides on and stays put. The unbelievably blendable texture includes silica, so it applies effortlessly onto the eyelid and won’t transfer. This highly-pigmented, waterproof, smudge-free shadow delivers immediate, intense color payoff. A retractable twist-up mechanism allows for quick and mistake-free application, and a sharpener makes it convenient to take this product to go for touchups.”

— sephora.com

Currently there are 10 shades…

Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic swatches from the left: Diamond Black D-10, Satiny Warm Brown S-60, Diamond Golden Grey D-12, Iridescent Pop Purple I-90 and Iridescent Electric Blue I-22 — Swatches from the left: Diamond Black D-10, Satiny Warm Brown S-60, Diamond Golden Grey D-12, Iridescent Pop Purple I-90 and Iridescent Electric Blue I-22

Make Up For Ever Aqua Matic swatches from the left: Iridescent Turquoise I-20, Iridescent Lime Green I-30, Metallic Golden Taupe ME-50, Metallic Pinkish Beige ME-54 and Satiny Flesh-Colored PInk S-52 — Iridescent Turquoise I-20, Iridescent Lime Green I-30, Metallic Golden Taupe ME-50, Metallic Pinkish Beige ME-54 and Satiny Flesh-Colored Pink S-52

[Continue reading…]

Unsung Makeup Heroes: Trish McEvoy Line Refiner

May 29th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

I bought Trish McEvoy’s Line Refiner a couple years ago after a makeup artist at a Trish McEvoy counter used it under my eyes. I wore it for about a month and a half, then stuck it in a drawer and promptly forgot about it.

I know that doesn’t exactly sound like a ringing endorsement, but I’m not finished with the story yet! Please bear with me. 🙂

Fast forward two years and a handful of months to me cleaning out a set of drawers in my office. Lo and behold, what pops up? — this tube, like a forgotten piece of buried treasure.

I still remembered how to use it from my lesson with the makeup artist. After applying your under-eye concealer, gently tap a minuscule amount of Line Refiner directly on top, concentrating on the areas with fine lines.

Later that day after cleaning my office, I applied it on top of the MAC Pro Longwear Concealer I usually wear to disguise my dark circles, and when I looked in the mirror — AAAAAAAH! (That was supposed to be the sound of a chorus of angels singing in perfect harmony in the background.) — OMG, THIS STUFF IS SO FRICKIN’ BOSS!

Kind of like a colorless lotion that temporarily softens the look of fine lines, it works under or over foundation or concealer, wherever you want to mellow out any fine lines on your face.

I mean, it’s no face lift in a bottle or anything, and it won’t turn back time 25 years, but if you do have any fine lines around your eyes or mouth, I think you’ll see a noticeable difference. I definitely do, both in pics and in person.

I’ve been using it now to set my under-eye concealer for the past three months, and I absolutely see a difference, especially in pics…where I can zoom in on the 20-megapixel originals. My under-eye area doesn’t look as textured as it did when I was just setting my concealer with powder.

[Continue reading…]

The NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Golden Horizons Hopes To Broaden Your Horizons on Baked Neutral Eyeshadow

May 28th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Technically, Mercury doesn’t enter retrograde until June 7 (I know this because I’m all over Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone like sweat on Daryl Dixon’s biceps), but man, oh man! — it feels like Mercury is already retrograding all over mah face!

I don’t know why, but for the past couple days, Murphy’s Law has ruled my makeup life with an iron fist. Anything that can go wrong with my eye makeup has gone wrong with my eye makeup. Uneven liner, botched blending, cray-cray clumpy lashes — you name it. It’s been a hot mess, so I’ve decided to stick to nudes and neutrals until whatever this is passes.

Until then, I’ll just chill with neutral palettes like the NYX Dream Catcher Palette in Golden Horizons.

This $15 cutie is one of three limited edition NYX Dream Catcher palettes released earlier this year. Each one comes with 10 baked eyeshadows and its own personal outlook on neutrals.

Compared to Dusk Til Dawn, the other Dream Catcher palette in my collection, Golden Horizons is heavier in the matte and satin departments, as opposed to shimmer.

I think it’s a little tamer because its shadows aren’t as pigmented as the ones in Dusk Til Dawn, but that could be a good thing if you don’t want to deal with blending drama, and/or have a legitimate fear of your lids looking like an unfinished painting from Picasso’s Cubism period (#thestruggleisreal).

[Continue reading…]

Unsung Makeup Heroes: The $4 Ardell 120 Demi Natural Lashes

May 27th, 2014 by Karen 26 Comments

Much like his bulging biceps (OH, HAI), Jeremey Renner’s makeup advice is a gift that keeps on giving.

J. Renn, do you know how many times your “Brows, lashes, lips. Frame the face,” (3:36 in the video!) wisdom has saved my @ss? More times than Tabs has greedily gobbled down his gravy in 30 seconds or less, I’ll tell you that much.

Whenever I’m running late — like, so late that I don’t even have time to check if I’m putting on my underwear inside-out and literally don’t realize it until halfway through the day (#truth) — I always go back to J. Renn’s philosophy on brows, lashes and lips.

It’s particularly useful when I have to look somewhat respectable, and not like I just fell out of a slow-moving recycling truck, also known as “my usual state of disarray.”

In those cases, I grab a few time-tested faves — an angled brush and MAC Brun to fill in my brows, a bright NARS Satin Lip Pencil (like Lodhi, Jardin des Plants or Yu) and a pair of Ardell 120 Demi false lashes.

Whenever I see those Ardells on sale, I try to grab a few pairs. Like earlier this month, I saw they were marked down to $2.99 from $3.99 at Ulta (they still are!). I picked up three pairs and squirreled them away in a drawer for future lateness.

With these, I really like how the lashes are bundled together.

See how they’re all in little bunches along the band?

I don’t know why, but I like the way that design works. With these and other false lashes that look that way, when they’re bundled up in little bunches, they seem to thicken my natural fringe without looking too crazy — still glam, but more on the natural side.

[Continue reading…]

Benefit They’re Real Push-Up Liner Says, Come On, Baby, Let’s Do the Twist!

May 22nd, 2014 by Karen 24 Comments

Benefit They're Real Push Liner — Wearing the new Benefit They’re Real Push-Up Liner on my lash lines with MAC Kelly Yum-Yum Lipstick on my lips

Well. Now I know what eyeliner I’ll be wearing when I find out that Ryan Gosling has finally gotten hitched and consequently start sobbing into my Cheetos — tears of pain, clearly, but I’ll try to pass them off as tears of joy (“I’m just so happy for him!”).

Benefit’s new They’re Real Push-Up Liner ($24) will be able to handle the waterworks, fo’ sho’.

The new waterproof matte black gel liner heads to the Benefit permanent line this July, and it has an interesting twist (literally).

Instead of coming in a pot, it comes in a pen. Think YSL Touche Eclat (which I talk about in this video), but with a flexible calligraphy-like nib instead of a brush. Twist the bottom, and the gel emits from the nib.

It’s the first ever lash-hugging gel liner pen! The custom AccuFlex tip hugs your lash line for bigger-looking eyes in seconds. The closer the liner, the bigger the eye!
—From the back of the box of Benefit’s new They’re Real Push-Up Liner

[Continue reading…]

$10 Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black Will Put the Wind Beneath Your Winged Liner and Keep It There for Hours

May 14th, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

Maybelline Blackest Black Lasting Drama Eyestudio — That’s Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black ($9.99) on my upper lash lines

Easy to control and totally legit, Maybelline’s $9.99 Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner in Blackest Black makes quick work of cat eye flicks (meow!), and it stands up to perspiration like Tabs stands up for gravy!

Plus, once it’s on, it doesn’t budge for nothin’.

Oil-free formula holds highly concentrated pigments in a clear gel base

Smudge-proof and waterproof for 24 hours

Safe for sensitive eyes

— maybelline.com

Pretty dark, but not as dark as my current black gel liner love, Black Valley Eye Paint by NARS, Blackest Black looks closer to a charcoal black than a black cat/midnight black to me.

I think darker would be better here…but it’s no big whoop, as Blackest Black is only $10 (versus $25 for NARS Black Valley).

The formula is designed to last a full 24 hours, which is kind of inconvenient to test… I’ve worn it about 10 times already, usually from morning till night or late afternoon, and I’ve never even seen it begin to give up the ghost. I have to physically remove it every time.

Maybelline Blackest Black Lasting Drama Eyestudio swatch — Blackest Black

[Continue reading…]

With Lancome’s Azur Chic Color Design Eyeshadow Palette, Summer Is Time To Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

May 13th, 2014 by Karen 15 Comments

Wearing the new Lancome Azur Chic Color Design Palette ($51)

El Hub asked me if I wanted to go get a slice of pizza with him for lunch today, and I said…

LOL! Sometimes you just really need a slice of pizza.

On the way to the pizza joint he noticed some glitter on my cheeks.

“It’s like Miley Cyrus,” I said, referring to the glitter. “Can’t stop, won’t stop.” 🙂

Between the MAC 3D Glitters I was wearing earlier and the Lancome eyeshadow I’m wearing now, the theme for today is definitely looking like glitter.

Which is all up in the mix, by the way, in Lancome’s new $51 six-pan Azur Chic Color Design eyeshadow palette.

But it’s cool. As long as I don’t forget to tap my brush to unload some of it before applying, very little of it ends up on my cheeks.

A few flecks do make their way down there, though, especially with one or two of the shades, particularly the deep bronze I’m wearing here on my lash lines and in the crease.

Its teensy, tiny flecks of gold glitter don’t really show up in swatches, but they do show up on my lids when I buff things out.

And, uh, because of the amount of sparkle we’re talking about here, you might want to throw one of the matte shades from your collection into the mix for contrast. For the bronzy gold look I’m wearing here, I used warm reddish brown MAC Texture in the crease to balance out the shimmer.

[Continue reading…]

Over-Blending and the Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess The Nudes Eyeshadow Palette

May 6th, 2014 by Karen 13 Comments

Over-blending…

The struggle is real!

I’m so not kidding either. If someone hands me a fluffy brush like the MAC 217, I will swipe, buff and swirl until the cows come home.

With some eye looks, it works in my favor, like for blown-out super blended smokey eyes with subtle gradients where all of the shadows smoothly transition into each other.

In looks like that, you almost can’t blend enough, ya know?

But then there are those other times… Those times when over-blending isn’t so cool, and while you think you’re doin’ your thang, and blending those subtle transitions between the colors, the eyeshadows all merge together into a muddy mess.

It happens a lot sometimes with certain palettes and eyeshadows.

It happened to me recently with Estee Lauder’s Bronze Goddess the Nudes Eyeshadow Palette, a $60 limited edition summer palette available now with the Bronze Goddess collection at Estee Lauder counters.

Estee lauder Bronze Goddess The Nudes Eyeshadow Palette packaging — Elegant tortoiseshell packaging…

Bedecked in tortoiseshell attire, it houses five nude matte eyeshadows in bone, beige, tan, brown and dark brown; and three metallics in white gold, bronze and plum.

First things first — these shades all being together in the same palette makes total sense to me, but figuring out the best way to work with the palette does not.

That’s because the nude mattes are all pretty close together in terms of color. There isn’t a ton of variation among the shades (lots o’ brown), and they’re kind of semi-sheer, so, like, when I pop them on my lids and start moving my brush around, they merge together into a blend of brown.

Same thing with the metallics… They appear quite dark in swatches but apply semi-sheer on the lids.

And, they also blend together a little too freely.

It’s not a big deal if I’m just going to be wearing one or two of these colors, but anything more than that can look muddy.

[Continue reading…]