Face of the Day (FOTD)

A Metallic Green and Warm Smokey Brown MAC Alluring Aquatic Face of the Day

May 15th, 2014 by Karen 25 Comments

Whenever I have mermaid dreams (yes, it’s a thing), they more or less go down something like this…

They’re usually in slow motion, lots of bubbles, tons of makeup…

Shoot, I can’t even fathom (Haha! Fathom…? Get it?) being a mermaid without makeup. That’s absurd.

The video is from MAC, timed for the release of their Alluring Aquatic collection, which launched online today (it’ll be in stores on May 22).

Not that I needed a reason to channel my inner mermaid (because every day is a good day to channel your inner mermaid), but I used it (the new collection) as such for my makeup today.

There are lots of things I like about this look. It’s slightly smokey, has warm browns in the crease, some color along the lash lines and leagues o’ lashes (thank goodness for falsies). Oh, and just the lightest dusting of glitter.

All good things. 🙂

I’m pretty comfortable with looks like this. I feel like this one’s a little flashy but stops short of full-on cray.

I might tone it down a tad if I were hanging out with the family or spending time with friends or going out to dinner with El Hub, and then just add the falsies for big events or fancy parties.

Today, though, I decided to put them on because, heck, it’s Thursday, and that seemed like a good enough reason for me, LOL!

Most of the products I’m wearing here are from MAC. On my eyes that’s…

MAC Legendary Lure Extra Dimension Eye Shadow: lids and lower lash lines
MAC Black Line Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner: as an eyeshadow base on my lids (it coaxes the green tones in Legendary Lure, and buffing it out brings out the small bits of golden glitter from the liner…super cool!)
MAC Delphic Extra Dimension Bronzer: crease and lower lash line
MAC Texture Eye Shadow: outer part of crease, to darken and add a slight lift to the eyes
MAC Black Swan Pearlglide Intense Eye Liner: upper and lower lash lines
Urban Decay Perversion 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil: water lines
MAC Mylar Eye Shadow layered on top of MAC Light Boost Prep + Prime Highlighter: on my brow bones
MAC Lorelei Extra Dimension Eye Shadow: inner corners
Ardell Demi 120 Lashes: upper lashes
Guerlain Cils D’Enfer Mascara: lower lashes
MAC Deep Dark Brunette Fluidline Gelcreme: brows

Cheeks and lips are all Alluring Aquatic. 🙂

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Blue Monday, Take 3: Laura Mercier’s Summer in St. Tropez Baked Eye Colour Quad

May 12th, 2014 by Karen 14 Comments

Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colour Quad in Summer in St. Tropez — Turning the idea of “blue Mondays” on its head!

Another Monday, another excuse to wear blue eyeshadow. And glitter. And false lashes. 🙂

Seriously, though, I can’t think a better day to bust out the blues.

For starters, there are a ton of ’em out there right now; they’ve been popping up in a bunch of the summer collections (like Lancome’s French Riviera, Tom Ford’s Unabashed and Urban Decay’s Electric Palette , just to name a few).

On top of that, I feel that if we’re going to have to put up with the oftentimes annoying nature of Mondays, we might as well have something fun happening on our lids.

Am I right?

Laura Mercier’s Summer in St. Tropez Baked Eye Colour Quad from the New Attitude summer 2014 collection ($44) has three such shades of fun blue — a sheer, pearlescent baby blue; a pigmented, satiny teal blue; and a sheer and shimmery dark royal blue.

Um…yeah, that’s a lot of blue, so if you feel the need to break it up a little, you could try mixing the bronze shade from the palette with the dark blue, which gets you a really cool purplish bronze.

That’s what I did today, popping it along my lower lash lines to contrast with the satiny teal I placed in the crease.

And because I still have those glittery eyes from that fashion show last week at the San Francisco Academy of Art University on my noodle, I swiped a small amount of glitter — Urban Decay’s Heavy Metal Glitter Liner in Spandex, which has flecks of blue and purple glitter — in the inner corners, figuring that the flickering sparkles would add a little splash to the eyes while tying together the blue on the lid with the purply bronze along the lower lash line.

A’ight then, here’s a breakdown…

Laura Mercier Summer in St. Tropez Baked Eye Colour Quad: Medium blue shade in the crease, bronze shade in the outer corner and the dark blue and bronze shades mixed together along the lower lash line.
Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Spandex: The inner portion of my lower lash line.
MAC Mylar Eyeshadow: On the brow bone, on the lids and in the inner corner.
Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner in Blackest Black: The upper lash lines.
Ardell 120 Demi Lashes: The false lashes I’m wearing on my upper lashes only.
MAC Deep Dark Brunette Fluidline Brow Gelcreme: Mah brows.

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Blue Monday, Take 2: A Face of the Day With the Tom Ford Unabashed Eye and Cheek Compact

May 5th, 2014 by Karen 22 Comments

In its former life, this ratty blue wig was part of a last-minute Halloween homage to Katy Perry. It has since evolved into one of Tabs’ favorite toys.

He stalks it, swats it and basically beats-it-the-eff-up whenever he’s “supervising” me in my office.

I should probably retire it already, seeing as how it’s clearly on its last legs, but I keep it around to startle my neighbors (a favorite pastime of mine) and take crazy-@ss pictures when the mood strikes.

‘K. Now, how about the same makeup look, but with a little less crazy? 🙂

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A NARS Tropical Princess Eyeshadow Face of the Day, Or, It’s So Hot Here Today That I Spontaneously Transformed Into a NARS Tropical Princess

April 30th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

I was originally going to wear basic neutrals and black liner on my lids today because it was deceptively chilly this morning, but that didn’t last long. It was 80 degrees by 9!

After shutting all the windows, drapes and blinds (much to Tabs’ chagrin, because it obstructs his view of the bird feeder outside), I felt like summery makeup was in order — something like the new NARS Tropical Princess Eyeshadow Duo from the Adult Swim summer 2014 collection.

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A Monday Face of the Day With the New Tom Ford Unabashed Eye and Cheek Compact

April 28th, 2014 by Karen 35 Comments

Tom Ford Unabashed Eye and Cheek Palette — Wearing Tom Ford’s new $95 Unabashed Eye and Cheek compact

The bright matte blue eyeshadow chilling in the corner of Tom Ford’s new summer eye and cheek compact is, well, unabashedly blue and comes, ironically, out of the blue, or so it seems to me.

Then again, maybe that was the point. The compact is called Unabashed, after all, and with a name like that, I guess it makes sense to have at least one outrageous color, methinks.

The bold electric blue looks like it wandered over from the Urban Decay counter and decided to kick it with TF for the summer, and it’s not one of those bait-and-switch blue eyeshadows, either — you know, the kind that scream from their pans, “Haaaay, look at me, playa!” only to apply all shy and sheer.

No way, this blue’s bright and bangin’ — perfect for bold blue eye looks, if you feel so inclined.

When I see blues like this one, my gut usually tells me to do a neutral lid and smudge the blue along my lower lash lines, or perhaps do a soft blue cat eye, but this morning my gut told me something else. It said, “Um, Karen, let the blue play with the other colors in the compact, OK?”

And I said, “Sure.” 🙂

The compact also includes a matte taupe eyeshadow, which looks a little like the taupe from She Wolf, only lighter; a glittery taupe; a shimmery golden peach blush; and a shimmery golden tan bronzer/highlighter.

I found out that if you layer the matte blue on top of the golden bronzer, it summons a dark and beautiful peacock feather teal.

COOL!

For my eyes…

Apply the bronzer/highlighter in the crease.
Sweep the matte blue into the lower crease.
Pat the matte taupe on the lids, then layer the glittery taupe on top (which I’ve applied here with a wet eyeshadow brush to intensify the glittery effect).
Line the upper lash line with Tom Ford’s Eye Defining Pen in Deeper.
Line the upper and lower water lines with Guerlain’s Black Jack Eye Pencil.
Smudge the matte taupe along the lower lash line.
Apply Katy Perry false lashes to my upper lashes.
And coat my lower lashes with Clinique Lash Power Feathering Mascara.

For the rest of the look, I swept the golden peach blush from the compact on my cheeks and applied the highlighter/bronzer on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose and on my Cupid’s bow.

I finished by applying a single layer of Tom Ford’s sumptuous Sable Smoke Lipstick (THE BEST high-end nude lippie, EVAH!) and topped it with a little NARS Striptease Lip Gloss.

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Yummy Mimosas and MAC Studio Sculpt Shade and Line in Apricot Blend

April 22nd, 2014 by Karen 12 Comments

MAC Apricot Blend Studio Sculpt Shade and Line — Wearing the new MAC Studio Sculpt Shade and Line in Apricot Blend

I love mimosas… Last weekend I had a very nice Apricot Blend.

Oh — you thought those two things were related? No, I meant to say, “I like mimosas, and last weekend I wore Apricot Blend.” 🙂

It’s one of the eight recently released MAC Studio Sculpt Shade and Line trios — $21 eye makeup trios with two coordinating eyeshadows and one powder liner in each.

You can wear them wet or dry (wet makes the colors more intense), and each of the pans has coordinating colors — some matte and some shimmer, depending on the pan.

Apricot Blend has a matte orangey brown (like MAC Bamboo), a shimmery beige (like MAC Shroom) and a matte reddish brown liner (which is basically like MAC Costa Riche Eye Kohl in powder liner form).

On me they last about 8-10 hours when I wear them with an eyeshadow primer, which is pretty great wear time. They’re available now at MAC counters, stores and online.

MAC Apricot Blend, a champagne beige/dirty berry brown/warm coral peach (pearl/matte) — Apricot Blend, a champagne beige/dirty berry brown/warm coral peach (pearl/matte)

I wore this one, Apricot Blend, a lot last weekend to hang out with ye olde parents, 1) because I didn’t think sparkly glitter was appropriate for Easter brunch and din-din with the folks, and 2) because Apricot Blend caught my eye earlier in the week and looked fairly wearable and neutral. I decided to give it a try, after which I pretty much wore it all weekend long.

I call this my “warm orangey matte brown in the crease, with a shimmery, peachy beige on the lid, along my brow bone and in the inner corner; and a soft reddish brown liner mixed with black eyeshadow on the upper lash line with a warm reddish brown powder liner smudged along my lower lash line” look.

Yes, that’s a very long name… 🙂

The look is very similar to something I do all the time with other MAC products, but this time I used Apricot Blend.

What else am I wearing?

On my eyes: Katy Perry Lashes, MAC Costa Riche Eye Kohl (lower water line), Guerlain Blackjack Liner (upper water line) and MAC Carbon (mixed with the darker brown from Apricot Blend and applied along the upper lash line).
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Makeup Adventure Seekers, Prepare To Be Amped Up and Turned On by the Urban Decay Electric Pressed Pigment Palette

March 6th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

Thunderous!

No, the colors will not shock your @ss when you touch them, and your hair will not stand on end, but the colors in Urban Decay’s new Electric Pressed Pigment Palette are very bright — like neon sign bright.

Buuut, not everybody likes brights, right? This one is for the risk takers — the guys and dolls who aren’t afraid to wear a bright teal eye to the bank on a Wednesday, which is not to say that those are the only makeup lovers who might like it. Just that they’d probably be more attracted to it immediately. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a bright teal, electric blue or chartreuse fan, however, does not mean you would not be able to rock this.

I just got back from a quick 10-minute walk around the neighborhood, and it was so beautiful outside. It rained here last night, and all of the flowers and grasses and trees are covered in raindrops from the storm. The colors are intensified because of the rain — the pinks, the greens, the blues, the yellow daffodils — but they’re also surrounded by neutrals — the brown dirt, the gray tree bark and the boring-@ss beige buildings in my neighborhood. The neutrals make the bright colors a little less shocking, but a little more at home in their environment at the same time.

Urban Decay Electric Pressed Pigment Palette swatches from the left, top row: Revolt, Gonzo, Slowburn, Savage and Fringe; bottom row: Chaos, Jilted, Urban, Freak and Thrash — From the left, top row: Revolt, Gonzo, Slowburn, Savage and Fringe; bottom row: Chaos, Jilted, Urban, Freak and Thrash

Similarly, I think the brights in this palette also look that much more beautiful when they’re used in tandem with neutrals.

Sorry…I rambled on there!

My point is this: you can use your existing wardrobe of neutrals, take this palette, and incorporate one or two of its colors as accents in your looks, making the palette into something perfectly wearable.

You know, I had a feeling that Urban Decay was about to release something bright soon… I mean, shoot — after all of the Nakedness dominating the line over the past few years, it was only a matter of time.

Speaking of time…

The first time I saw Electric, I said, “Ooh! I think I have a Pop Beauty palette just like this sitting in a drawer.” It was a palette from last fall, and it’s only sitting in the drawer because I get easily distracted. Not because I don’t like it. I do (incidentally, it’s still available and much less expensive than Electric).

Then when I opened Electric for the first time, I thought, “I have to get Fringe on my lids.”

Fringe, the metallic teal all the way to the right in the first row, is all that and a bag of deep-fried chips. Deep and rich and shimmery and pigmented, and it buffs out perfectly.

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A Glammed Up Face of the Day With Lancôme’s Color Design Shadow & Liner Palette in Dancing Rose

February 27th, 2014 by Karen 26 Comments

First thing this morning I told myself, “Karen, take note of the little things today,” and I’ve taken note of some wonderful little tidbits throughout the course of my day (a hot cup tea, seeing a rainbow, catching Tabs looking extra cute), but I have to say…

Even though I didn’t really plan to go anywhere fancy today, I thought it might be fun to glam it up a little — ya know, for Tabs, and because it’s Thursday.

Lancome Dancing Rose Color Design Palette — Lancôme Dancing Rose Color Design Palette

It all started with the Lancôme Color Design Shadow & Liner Palette in Dancing Rose ($50) from the French Ballerine spring collection. One glance at that deep, plummy reddish purple in the middle, and I just had to get it on my lids, ASAP!

I used the sparkly light purple as a base all over my eyes, patted the pink shade on my lids, swept the plummy shade in my crease (creases?), and then highlighted underneath my brow bones with the light opalescent pinkish beige.

Then, I added a fatty-bo-batty wing on my upper lash line with the deep blackish plum, woo hoo!

Katy Perry Eylure Lashes in Banging Beauty

Glam eyeshadow deserves glam lashes, so I brought out the big guns, Katy Perry Lashes in Banging Beauty ($6.99). These falsies are cray, yo! I could barely lift my eyes because they were so big and so over the top. Definitely not for the faint o’ heart.

Since the eyes were so shimmery, so purple, so BAM! — I tried to keep my cheeks and lips soft to balance things out.

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