Eyes

Unzipped, Aerin Beauty’s A Garden in Bloom Face Palette Calls to Upscale Makeup Lovers Longing for Watercolor Washes on Eyes and Cheeks

February 19th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Wearing the new Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom Face Palette ($70) on my eyes and cheeks

I think there’s something very cool, very “power to the people!” about products able to work well for a wide range of beauty lovers — different skin types and tones, young people and older folks — especially when those products aren’t too expensive.

At the same time, I also like products designed with a very specific girl (or guy) in mind, like Aerin Beauty’s new $70 A Garden in Bloom Palette, which focuses like a laser on beauty lovers with some extra spending money.

There’s a good chance A Garden in Bloom girl already carries a Chanel bag, and all of the sales associates at Neimans and Saks know her by her first name. One of her inspirations? Audrey Hepburn, and the classic eye look she wore in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. 🙂

She likes a very specific makeup look, too, with her eyes and cheeks defined by light washes of color, and only rarely ventures into bolder, brighter territory. Luckily, this limited edition spring palette, with its three cool-toned, moderately pigmented powder eye shadows — a pinkish beige with a satin finish, a matte taupe and a purplish gray — and matte rosy pink powder blush, offers exactly that.

Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom photos pictures packaging — The cloth-covered, zippered packaging looks pretty to me, but it sure isn’t easy to keep clean…

Aerin Beauty A Garden in Bloom Face Palette swatches — Blush on the far left; eyeshadows on the right

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Unsung Heroes: Hourglass Visionaire Duo in Exhibition

February 18th, 2013 by Karen 47 Comments

Hourgless Visionaire Duo in Exhibition — Wearing the Hourglass Visionaire Duo in Exhibition ($38) on my eyes; available now online, and at Hourglass counters and Sephora

I’m beginning to realize that despite falling in love with a new purple eye shadow single/duo/quad/palette approximately every 6.14 seconds (a side effect of undiagnosed makeup deficit disorder), I could probably function for days, weeks or maybe even months wearing the Hourglass Visionaire Duo in Exhibition.

It’s easily one of my favorite purple duos of all time, and I always feel at least a little better when I get it on my lids.

One side is a shimmery mauve, like a lighter, shinier MAC Shale; the other, a shimmery eggplant with subtle magenta undertones (I notice them more when I apply with a wet brush), which I think give the shade more depth.

Both sides are packed with pigment — enough to please even the most discriminating mulberry mavens, and perhaps hard-core MAC-aholics, too.

The silky, almost creamy rose petal formula makes it easy to build beautiful gradients, and best of the all, the powders completely refuse fallout, creasing and fading.

Wondering how close Exhibition comes to the NARS 413 BLKR duo?

Hmm… I’d say close, but they’re not exactly dupes. The Exhibition shades appear a little brighter and shinier to me, with a corresponding chipper effect on my mood.

I still heart 413 to bits, but I think of it as having a harder edge and more tough-girl zeal.

Hourglass Exhibition Visionaire Duo Picture NARS 213 BLKR — Hourglass Exhibition on the left and NARS 413 BLKR on the right

Hourglass Exhibition Visionaire Duo Swatch — Hourglass Exhibition

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From the Moment I Laid Eyes on Guerlain’s Ã‰crin 4 Couleurs in Coup de Foudre, It Was, in Fact, Love at First Sight

February 14th, 2013 by Karen 34 Comments

Love at first sight.

This, according to Google Translate, which tells me that Coup de Foudre, also known as the name of Guerlain’s new spring quad, means “love at first sight” in English.

And yes, it was (love at first sight). First time I opened this gorgeous gold compact, I made goo-goo eyes at it and twirled a lock of hair around a finger like I was trying to get it to buy me a drink at the bar.

Haha! 🙂

Guerlain Coup de Foudre — Hey, baby, what’s your sign? I’m a Gemini, in case you were wondering…

Coup de Foudre shocked me in a couple different ways. First, the $59 price is alarming. Second, I think it’s supernatural… I keep expecting to see it on an episode of Lost Girl or Grimm!. Its gray, jade green, khaki and coral powder shadows are so enchanting that I bet even sirens and succubi would struggle to resist them.

Why?

Because this is a damned fine quad, babe! An expensive one, for sure, but I think Guerlain struck near perfection.

I mean, where do I start?

How ’bout here: when you’re 37, sometimes you have to do the math in your head to remember your age (mark my words, it’ll happen). On top of that, shimmery finishes become really challenging.

Most shimmery finishes, that is. Coup de Foudre has magic shimmer — shimmer that glows on my lids without accenting my fine lines.

When I wear these shadows and look in the mirror, I feel like asking, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s that 27-year-old looking back at me!? Hot damn and hallelujah!!” 🙂

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New Aerin Beauty Lip and Cheek Color in Sweet Pea Maximizes Space in Makeup Bags

February 14th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Wearing the new Aerin Beauty Sweet Pea Lip & Cheek Color ($42), new for spring 2013

Why, yes, I am carrying eight tubes of gloss on my person at the moment. How ever did you know?

Oh, you say that my bulging makeup bag gave it away?

Well that explains it. 🙂

Part of me wants to believe that one day I’ll transform from a chronic makeup over-packing caterpillar into a streamlined beauty butterfly with a tiny makeup bag.

I mean, if a street cat like Tabs can rise to the top of the plus-size kitty modeling game, why can’t I get by with my makeup essentials in a tiny makeup bag? Crazier things have happened.

Should my transformation ever transpire, I’ll probably rely on multipurpose products, like Aerin Beauty’s new Sweet Pea Lip & Cheek Color, a satiny, cool-toned pink cream blush that also doubles as a lipstick.

Aerin Beauty, a pretty pricey high-end makeup line that only launched a few months back, carries products that appeal to my fussy-free side — products like Sweet Pea, designed for elegant, natural makeup looks that are also easy.

Blend in one layer with your fingers for cheeks that look like you just finished a brisk walk. Add a second layer, like I’m wearing in these pics, for a brighter flush.

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Is the New MAC Antique Diamond Pro Longwear Paint Pot a Dupe for Benefit Skinny Jeans?

February 13th, 2013 by Karen 8 Comments

My first thought when I saw MAC’s new Antique Diamond Pro Longwear Paint Pot?

Skinny Jeans. Benefit Skinny Jeans, because like my beloved Skinny Jeans cream shadow, Antique Diamond also has that grayish khaki thang going on.

But yeah…that’s just about where the similarities end. As soon as I got Antique Diamond on my lids, I could see that it wasn’t a lot like Skinny Jeans. I think both shadows are fab, but they are very, very different.

Olive green Antique Diamond looks lighter, cooler toned and shinier to me (hello, frosty finish!). Like, in trying to think of the inspiration behind it, I’m thinkin’…frozen lichen on the side of a tree on a sunny winter’s day?

Whatev, I like it. 🙂

Doesn’t it seem more delicate than Skinny Jeans? Could have something to do with Antique Diamond’s fine flecks of silver glitter.

Don’t get me wrong — I Skinny Jeans. I just think Antique Diamond is a little daintier, like if Skinny Jeans were motorcycle boots, Antique Diamond would be a pair of kitten heels.

I’ll usually pat a layer on my lids with a finger, and then, to offload a little of the color, buff it down by gently running a MAC 217 all over the lid, leaving behind an almost transparent tint of cool olive green (so pretty!) loaded with silver shimmer.

And it lasts from that first bite of French toast at breakfast till that last piece of pizza at night…

(Yes, someone’s hungry for junk food right now.)

MAC Antique Diamond and Benefit Skinny Jeans — Swatches of MAC Antique Diamond on the left and Benefit Skinny Jeans on the right

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Milani Ultrafine Liquid Eye Liner: A Tricky Tip Barely Holds These Back, Thanks to a Fantastic High-Shine Finish and a Fabulous $7.49 Price

February 13th, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

The five new Milani Ultrafine Liquid Eye Liners ($7.49 each!)

Can I steal you away this morning for a 15-minute break?

Yes? Cool! Follow me. I’ll drive. 🙂

You and I are SO hitting up that drugstore over there…

Wait — you say you have to fill out those TPS reports first (LAME)? Okay, well, you know where to find me. I’ll be in the beauty aisle, by the Milani stuff, ogling the new Ultrafine Liquid Eye Liners.

I can’t believe they’re less than $10! How did Milani manage to make them pigmented, waterproof (long-lasting), quick drying, AND give them such a high-shine finish?

Milani Ultra Fine Liquid Eye Liner 3 — From the lower left to the right: Black Vinyl, Black Gems, Sparkling Turquoise, Prismatic Purple and Emerald Glisten

Milani Ultra Fine Liquid Eye Liner 5 — Swatches from the left: Black Vinyl, Black Gems, Sparkling Turquoise, Prismatic Purple and Emerald Glisten

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New Sephora Exclusives From NARS and Make Up For Ever, One of Them in Technicolor and the Other Inspired by Eve

February 12th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

The new Make Up For Ever Technicolor Palette ($45), available now exclusively at Sephora

Seriously, dude, I go to Petco so often that when I see the Friskies delivery guy there restocking the gravy display, he gives me the “What’s up?” nod in the cat food aisle.

Like we’re buds. Because we see each other so often. 🙂

In my town, one of the upsides of frequenting the local Petco on behalf of my famously demanding feline employer is that there’s a Sephora right next door.

I know! It’s makeup/cat lady heaven…

So whenever Tabs sends me on a gravy run, I try to swing by Sephora (but please don’t tell Tabs, because I don’t want to hear his speech about personal errands on company time, blah, blah, blah…).

Yesterday Miss Thang (Tabs) was running low on Science Diet, Gravy and Greenies, so after restocking at Petco, I wandered next door to the Sephora to quickly look around, and check if the new Hourglass Ambients had arrived yet (nope!).

It was weird… Most of the time when I visit Sephora, I usually see a few guys either trailing their girlfriends/wives or waiting up near the front of the store with their noses buried in their phones, but yesterday, they were everywhere! — wandering the aisles like lost cattle, most of them with blank looks on their faces.

That’s when I realized: Valentine’s Day. I think there was some present shopping going on there…

Most of the dudes, bless their hearts, looked completely clueless, too. I thought, “Let me help you!” LOL! But I was under a tight schedule and had to get back to the office to give Tabs his daily full-body shiatsu massage.

If I had been able to offer assistance, I would have steered the dudes toward the new $45 Technicolor palette from Make Up For Ever first, with its eight powder shadows, four of them brights and four of them neutrals.

My inner film buff likes the inspiration behind it — the era in cinema when movies were transitioning from black and white to color, circa the 1930s — while my practical side loves that MUFE included classic black, brown, beige and white shades to go with the electric yellow, green, blue and purple.

So flexible! Plus, it comes with a step-by-step tutorial and two eye brushes.

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Bobbi Brown Jet Long-Wear Eye Pencil

February 12th, 2013 by Karen 18 Comments

I panic a little when I can’t find my stick of Bobbi Brown Jet.

Okay, a lot. I panic a lot. And based on the fact that Jet is almost always out of stock when I stop by a Bobbi counter, I’m probably not the only one.

Jet, a deep, true black long-wearing gel liner in pencil form, has a flat matte finish and sells for $24 as part of Bobbi’s permanent line.

That may sound like a lot for a basic black eye liner, but seriously — Jet is anything but basic. I think it’s easily the best black pencil liner available on any counter now.

The long-running Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorite permanent collection products from a variety of bodacious beauty brands. 🙂

Why do I like it so much?

Because it gets great, great mileage. Like a Prius times 12. We’re talkin’ crazy good wear time on my lash and water lines.

Over the years, I’ve worn (and stockpiled) dozens of black liners, and Jet is the only one that consistently lasts 16 or more hours for me (yes, some days are REALLY long) without getting patchy or breaking up throughout those infernal, eternal days. When it’s on, it’s on like Donkey Kong.

Whenever some cruel twist of fate/scheduling forces me to start my day well before dawn (when even the chickens are still snoring) I grab Jet.

Sometimes I’ll see some very minor smudging around hour 12 (!), but still — hour 12? That’s impressive.

And it’s super easy to apply. Jet’s silky, soft formula coasts along my lash and water lines like a private jet at 30,000 feet, and one swipe delivers a dark, dramatic black line.

For smudgier looks, I’ll buff out the edges before Jet sets, which usually takes around 3-4 minutes.

Where Jet doesn’t rock my boat is in super blended looks with powder eye shadows; for instance, when I use an eye pencil as a base for smokey eyes. In those cases, when I need maybe 10-15 minutes to manipulate my products, Jet simply sets too fast.

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