Eyes

I’m Matte About a Mallard Named Canard: Laura Mercier’s Canard CrÃ¨me Eye Liner

April 16th, 2013 by Karen 23 Comments

Laura Mercier Canard CrÃ¨me Eye Liner ($22), from the Folklore summer 2013 collection

If I’m gonna wear teal on my upper lash lines, it needs to be flashy. Flashy enough for New Year’s and divas at drag queen karaoke at the very, very least.

I mean, it’s teal, right? — the kryptonite of “no-makeup makeup” eye liner looks.

Laura Mercier Canard CrÃ¨me Eye Line ($22)

But ever since Laura Mercier’s new $22 Canard CrÃ¨me Eye Liner debuted on counters with the rest of Laura’s Folklore summer 2013 collection, I’ve been rethinking my stance.

Canard, or “duck” en franÃ§ais (shout-out to high school French!), shares much in common with Laura’s other CrÃ¨me Eye Liners. Despite its low-key flat matte finish, it’s packed with pigment, doesn’t get patchy, and best of all, it has the grip strength of a heavyweight MMA fighter! — even when worn without primer.

Laura Mercier Canard CrÃ¨me Eye Liner Swatch

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Get It While It’s Hot! Fresh Out the Oven, Urban Decay’s New Easy Baked Eyeshadow Serves Smokin’ Hot Bronze Shimmer in Time for Summer

April 15th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Urban Decay Easy Baked Eyeshadow — Wearing the new $18 Easy Baked Eyeshadow… Are you ready to get Easy Baked with Urban Decay?

On the one hand, I love wearing Urban Decay’s new $18 Easy Baked Eyeshadow. The slight semblance of cantaloupe that peeks through when the light hits it just right keeps it from ending up in the run-of-the-mill bronze eye shadow pile.

And when I wear it, thanks to the soft shimmer, which works like DOPE-@ss mood lighting, I swear I don’t look half as tired as I usually feel.

But on the other hand, I hate it.

HATE IT!

No, not because it two-timed or double crossed me, Don Draper-style. I actually think it’s a great little eye shadow. Worn with a primer, this bronzed peach lasts all day long on my lids (although without one, I start to see creases after two), blends like it was born for gradients, and I just know it’ll rock the Casbah with the corals, browns and teals I plan to wear on my eyes this summer.

It’s just that every time I wear Easy Baked…I think of the Easy Bake Oven I always wanted as a kid but never got.

Wasn’t the Easy Bake Oven the coolest??

I was so jealous of those girls in the commercial baking brownies in their bedroom (I mean, baking brownies in your bedroom? How cool is that!?). My mom never baked because cooking wasn’t really her thing. It wasn’t until I left for college that I realized that cooked meat didn’t have to have the texture of an old leathery shoe (sorry, Mom!).

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Wear Time Isn’t a Problem for Sonia Kashuk’s Multitasking Chic Luminosity Stick in Persian Sunset

April 12th, 2013 by Karen 13 Comments

Sonia Kashuk Persian Sunset — She made her way through the marketplace with the Persian Sunset on her upper cheekbones and the scent of saffron in the air… Sonia Kashuk’s Chic Luminosity Highlighter Stick in Persian Sunset ($10.99)

I like when cream makeup comes in sticks and pencils (see: Urban Decay’s 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil in Mushroom) 1) because they’re easy to use (especially the ones I can blend with a finger), and 2) because they make me feel like I’m back in eighth grade art class, where my biggest concerns were whether my breath smelled like the BBQ Corn Nuts I had at lunch, or whether I’m going to finish my drawing of ceramic bowls by the bell (my teacher was obsessed with us drawing bowls).

Of course, not all cream products are created equal, and some of them just don’t last.

I’m a busy woman with “important” (air quotes) things to do, like figuring out how to dress like Olivia Pope from Scandal without having to throw down the cash for all that Prada, and looking for a monocle for my cat (you know that would be awesome, right?). Having to stop whatever I’m doing every two hours to refresh a product on my lids or cheeks gets really old fast.

Sonia Kashuk’s Chic Luminosity Highlighter Stick in Persian Sunset ($10.99) will show those weak-willed, disappearing creams how it’s supposed to be done.

Sonia Kashuk Chic Luminosity Highlighter Stick in Persian Sunset ($10.99)

Sonia Kashuk Persian Sunset swatch — A swatch on my NC 42 skin

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The Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil in Mushroom: A Neutral Shadow With a Can-Can Kick

April 12th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

Urban Decay Mushroom 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil in Mushroom — On my lids: the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil in Mushroom ($20)

There’s a fungus among us, ladies and gents. With Urban Decay’s new 24/7 Glide-On Shadow Pencil in Mushroom, you’ll be able to knock out neutral looks in a flash.

And not just any old neutral looks. Neutral looks with pizzaz! — as this waterproof, long-lasting gray eye shadow also shimmers.

Right now it’s driving my Blanche Deveraux side wild, but she was mightily concerned at first…

When I showed it to her, she feigned almost passing out, raising the back of a wrist to her forehead and steadying herself against one of the posts on the veranda outside (also known as the back deck). “Oh, dear,” she declared in her thick Southern drawl, “if you’re gonna wear another boring gray shadow, I’ll just die. JUST DIE!”

See, my Blanche Deveraux side believes that neutrals should only be worn when shopping for sensible shoes, filling out Excel spreadsheets and cleaning cat barf from the carpets (seriously, Tabs, couldn’t you have aimed for the tiles?). In her mind, why bother with a boring gray when there are so many sparklier shades out there (she said, while batting her lashes at a pair of French naval officers on shore leave)?

But then she took a closer look at the tip…

And totally changed her tune. She saw an intense, warm gray with a shiny, silvery pearl finish.

When I explained how the easy-to-blend formula lasts all day long when worn with or without a primer, she snatched the pencil from my paws, and before I could protest, applied it to her lids.

Urban Decay Mushroom Noise 247 Glide On Shadow Pencil — Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Shadow Pencils in Mushroom (left) and Noise (right)

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More Runway Than Everyday: The Six Cream Colour Shadows in MAC’s Limited Edition Fall ’13 Forecast/Eyes Palette Pull a Disappearing Act

April 10th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

MAC Fall 13 Forecast Eyes — That there is Rustic Red and Purple Fusion on my lids and lash lines from the MAC Fall ’13 Forecast/Eyes palette

Cue the lights! Music! Now Models, hit the runway! And you, vertically-challenged 30-something cat lady girl, hit the hallway! The show is about to begin!!

Straight off the catwalks of Paris and New York (and the hallways of Novato), beside the Fall ’13 Forecast/Lips palette (SO GOOD), comes MAC’s new $40 Fall ’13 Forecast/Eyes palette of six new Cream Colour Shadows in fashion-forward fall colors.

The moderately pigmented, easy-to-build colors in the pocket-sized palette range from rockstar Oil-Slick Black to admin assistant Oyster.

The first time I patted one of these thin, slightly sticky cream shadows on a bare lid, I purred, then oohed and ahed at how easy it was to blend with the other shades. Then I thought, “Now when I walk Tabs, I can pretend I’m walking a Marc Jacobs catwalk.”

BAM! Pop that hip! 🙂

MAC Fall 13 Forecast Eyes Swatches — MAC Fall 13 Forecast Eyes swatches from the left: Oyster, Scarab Green, Smoked Indigo, Rustic Red, Oil Slick Black and Purple Fusion

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On Your Mark…Get Set…Save! Flower Beauty’s Long-Lasting On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner Delivers a Dior-Like Look for $7

April 10th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

Makeup lovers, on your mark… Get set… GO! “Here I’m wearing Flower Beauty On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner in Black ($7) on my upper lash lines!!”

Yea! Great product name! 🙂

But I feel like Flower Beauty should have added an ellipses at the end of their new $7 On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner, because that’s how I say it in my head.

“On your mark…”

With the pause at the end. LOL!

I’ve been all about liquid liners with shiny finishes lately — liners like the $30 Diorshow Art Pen, which might as well be Velcroed to my hand — paired with some of this season’s raddest lipsticks from Buxom, NARS, Laura Mercier, MAC and Milani.

Some products just seem so right together, don’t they? That’s how I feel about liquid liner and lipstick. They’re a classic pairing, like scrunchies and side ponytails, or Katniss and Peeta (which reminds me, The Hunger Games is now available on Netflix, holla!).

Unfortunately, the Diorshow Art Pen costs three hamiltons (which doesn’t flow off the tongue as well as “benjamins”), so I’ve been looking for a drugstore alternative that lasts just as long and is just as easy to apply.

I think I may have found it, too, in Flower Beauty’s water-resistant On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner, which has a flexible felt tip that lays down lines just as smoothly as the Art Pen from Dior.

So long-lasting (12 hours)! So perspiration-proof (I ran 3 miles with it on, and it didn’t even budge)! So affordable at just $7!

I haven’t been able to keep my hands off it, and I think my Dior liner’s even getting a little jealous…

Flower Beauty On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner swatch — Flower Beauty On Your Mark Liquid Eye Liner in Black on my NC 42 skin

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Iridescent and Opalescent, MAC’s New Extra Dimension Eye Shadows Illuminate Lids Here in Our Dimension Too

April 9th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

“Warp drive on my mark, ensign. 3-2-1, mark! ETA to the MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadows in Opalesse, Smoky Mauve and Triple Impact, t-minus 10 seconds…”

My favorite thing about this time of year? You mean, other than the beautiful flowers everywhere (allergies, be damned!) and the reemergence of my favorite pair of flip-flops and the liberation of my toes?

The sunnier days also seem like a good excuse to wear shimmery, glimmering eye shadows.

Whenever I’m wearing something luminescent on my lids — perhaps something like the new MAC’s Extra Dimension Eye Shadows ($21 per 0.07-ounce pan) — as Tabs and I soak up the sun on our afternoon walks, I feel an extra bounce in my step. 😀

The six new shades, each in MAC’s hybrid liquid-powder formula, beam down to the planet’s surface (and MAC counters and stores) April 11 with the rest of the In Extra Dimension collection. The shadows range from sheer, opalescent shades too full-on frosts.

Of course, if you don’t want to wait those two more days, they are available now online…

I’ve been working with three of them for a few days — Opalesse, Triple Impact and Smokey Mauve — and we’ve gotten pretty close. I haven’t had any issues with fallout, and as long as I layer them on top of a primer, they last me from 8-10 hours, with barely a hint of creasing or fading (they crease and fade more noticeably when I wear them without primer)

MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Opalesse, a opalescent white with white pearl — MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Opalesse, an opalescent white with white pearl

MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Opalesse: This sheer opalescent shadow reminds me of a MAC Vex stripped of its greenish blue flash. A very pretty pinkish peach opal. Absolutely gorgeous buffed onto lids with a 217. It just glows!
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Triple Impact, a opalescent lavender with violet pearl

MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Triple Impact: Another opalescent shadow, except that this one’s lavender with violet pearl. On its own, it illuminates lids like a regular Thomas Edison, but I think its real strength is smokey eyes. I pat a little in the inner half or all over my lids atop a black creamy base, and the iridescent, shimmery purple adds a twinkle of sparkle that’s less intense than a trip on the glitter train.
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A

MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Smoky Mauve, a mid-tone cool mauve — MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Smoky Mauve, a cool mid-toned mauve

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MAC Added a Pinch of Pastel, a Spoonful of Sparkle and a Dash of Cream to the MAC Baking Beauties Collection

April 5th, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

Now where’d I put my KitchenAid…?

Don’t let me catch you dipping into the frosting again. 🙂 These products aren’t for tummies. They’re for eyes, lips, nails and cheeks.

The recipe calls for pastel colors and 24 cups of sugar. Definition: it’s sweet, sweet, sweet.

Step into the kitchen! Here’s a taste of 10 of the 24 pieces from the MAC Baking Beauties collection, which comes out of the oven April 18 in North American MAC kitchens, stores and online (and internationally this May).

Ya know, I’m lovin’ the idea of this release (because I’m a sugar fiend). Cupcakes and I — we roll deep! But I don’t know… From what I’ve seen so far, these pieces seem more Splenda than C&H.

I was expecting ecstasy with these — the same visceral, intense reaction I get when I bite into a real life red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting (yum!) — but I’m actually on the fence. A lot of these colors look similar on my NC42 skin.

MAC In For a Treat Pearlmatte Face Powder, a champagne base with a matte coral flower and mint leaves on the pan ($29)

Like In For a Treat Pearlmatte Face Powder and the pretty design (the white edges are an overspray, but I don’t think the design in the center of the pan is). It has all the makings of an award-winning dessert! Normally, I’d want seconds of something like this, but I find myself craving more oomph! Less frost and more coral.

MAC Pink Buttercream Pearlmatte Face Powder, a light silvery pink base with dark pink flowers and periwinkle leaves ($29)

MAC Pink Rebel Lustre Drops, a blueish pink with golden pearl ($21)

MAC Lavender Whip Lipstick, a light cool lavender with a Cremesheen finish ($15)

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