Face

A Peachy Pick For Improv Spring Picnics or Any Time You’re in a Rush: Jouer Honeysuckle Tint Quickly Blossoms on Cheeks and Lips

March 26th, 2013 by Karen 12 Comments

My favorite part of last weekend? When El Hub knocked on my office door to invite me on an impromptu picnic.

Mind you, the picnic itself was great, but immediately before El Hub knocked on my door, I was feeling a little blue… The picnic was a perfect opportunity to not only spend some quality time with him but also with Honeysuckle, a new spring shade in Jouer’s line of $20 multitasking cream Tints for cheeks and lips.

Naturally, a picnic with your sweetie is infinitely better when you’re wearing peach blush and lipstick to go with your sandwiches, chips and lemonade.

Jouer Honeysuckle Tint Picture — Pretty in peach

I was crunching numbers (taxes, bluh) when I heard a tap-tap-tapping on my door…

One look at my sad face and bleary eyes told El Hub all he needed to know.

“You wanna go on a picnic?” he said, stepping over Tabs, who was sprawled in front of the doorway like a 20-pound kitty gatekeeper. “You, me, sandwiches from Whole Foods and a nice patch of grass? Come on, let’s go. Can you be ready in five minutes?”

He handed me a glass of water he was holding and an allergy pill. “Here, take this, Bubble Girl.”

This time of year, I’m allergic to everything, so I chugged it down. He grabbed the glass and turned to leave.

“Five minutes isn’t enough,” I said after him.

He bounded down the stairs and hollered back, “Now it’s only four minutes!”

Sh*t. Four minutes?? I kicked into fast-and-furious makeup overdrive, rubbing a few dots of tinted moisturizer on my cheeks and chin, patting concealer under my eyes, brushing a bit of eye shadow into my brows and curling my lashes.

A minute left on the clock, but I felt like something was still missing…

I looked around the room and noticed Tabs rolling on his back, blinking with sleepy eyes. My pan of Jouer Honeysuckle was half buried beneath his tum.

Tabs-chunky — Large and in charge…and hiding makeup wherever he goes!

Seriously, dude. I will never understand how or why this cat enjoys stealing and sleeping on makeup. It’s just the weirdest thing. I guess it’s good that Jouer housed the 0.07-ounce pan of Honeysuckle in a sturdy brown compact, because not only can it withstand jostling around in my makeup bag, it can also withstand the power of a portly XXXL tabby.

After liberating the compact from Tabs’ voluptuous girth, I pried it open with my fingers, and swept and blended Honeysuckle’s sheer, lightweight cream formula on my cheeks and lips.

Purrfect. The semi-matte peach was exactly the kind of casual color I needed for an improv picnic and the rest of the day after, since it lasts 5-6 hours on my dry cheeks, and about an hour on my lips.

Jouer Honeysuckle Tint Swatch — Silky smooth, ma!

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A Cure for Sallow Skin: Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer

March 26th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Physicians Formula's Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer in Bronzer — The $13.95 Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer in Bronzer (also available in a second version called Light Bronzer), available now at drugstores and online

In an ominous dream I had the other night, Olympic Skater Johnny Weir warned me that I was making a big mistake…

In the dream he told me two things — 1) that I didn’t have enough sequins in my wardrobe and 2) that I wasn’t wearing bronzer often enough.

I had to agree with him about the bling…

By nature, I love to sparkle. So I’m totally on board with that.

But about Johnny’s second bit of advice, I hrrumphed!

“Duuuuude,” I screamed from my dream seat next to the rink, “I wear bronzer a lot. Like all the time!”

He landed a triple axle and yelled from across the ice, “Don’t lie. I saw you at Kate Spade yesterday, and you looked tow’ up. What you need is a good golden tan bronzer. The warm, healthy glow could do you some good.”

Then he skated up to me, pulled the white scrunchie I was wearing from my hair (I never figured out why), and skated off until he disappeared into a hot pink fog…

(Yeah, I really have to stop eating those rice crispy treats before bed.)

This was one of those dreams I initially forgot about but remembered later in the day.

It was Saturday, warm and sunny outside, but I was feeling pretty crummy about being stuck indoors doing my taxes. At the time I was wearing my rattiest pajamas with a scrunchie in my hair (yes, it was white) and didn’t have on a lick of makeup.

I’d just glanced over at my pan of Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer sitting on my desk when the dream occurred to me and I blurted, “Johnny Weir!”

The golden bronzer is part of a new spring collection of products designed to increase yo’ sex appeal.

Ingredients

Mica, Diisostearyl Malate, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Fragrance, Synthetic Wax, Nylon-12, Silica, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Magnesium Stearate, Ethylhexyl Isononanoate, Lauroyl Lysine, Kaolin, Epimedium Sagittatum Leaf / Stem Extract, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Fruit Powder, Dimethicone / Methicone Copolymer, Androstadienone, Pregnadienol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol. May Contain: Iron Oxides, Iron Oxides, Red 30, Tin Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Yellow 5 Lake

Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Bronzer swatches — Swatches of the darker part of the pan on the left, the golden part in the middle and both the shades swirled together on the right

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Unsung Makeup Heroes: Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray

March 25th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray — That’s my jam!

Yes, using Urban Decay’s $29 All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray involves adding another step to my makeup routine, and no, it’s probably not as essential as under-eye concealer.

Buuut, that doesn’t make me like it any less. 🙂

If I were going on a big trip (say, lattes and macarons in Paris with RyGos, seeing as he’s on hiatus from acting) and accidentally forgot it at home, would I be crushed?

No, I think not.

Probably not. Okay maybe a little…

With the weather warming up and the days getting longer, I have been whipping out this makeup-saving spray mist more and more often. A few spritzes postpone fading and keep my makeup on my mug longer.

And it’s just so refreshing! — like standing in the mist beside a tropical waterfall…except without the mosquito swarms, frizzy hair and bikini muffin top, of course.

Stuff locks my look down all day long. Like, say it was the morning of the zombie apocalypse…

I’m just staying, for instance. 🙂

If it were that day, and I remembered to spray this on first thing in the morning, I’m confident that my foundation, powder, blush, eyeshadow and bronzer would still be going strong when the biters finally took me down that night. (Side note: last night’s Walking Dead? Merle?? Daryl? We need to talk.)

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MAC Unsung Heroes: Sun Rush Lustre Drops

March 21st, 2013 by Karen 12 Comments

Why wait for summer to wear MAC’s $21 Sun Rush Lustre Drops? The petite 0.60-ounce bottle, which fits in the palm of my hand and snugly into my teeniest makeup bag, is ready to go places NOW (spring break girls’ trip, anyone?).

And with the sun beaming down on the Bay Area today on this, the first official day of spring (See ya, winter! It’s been real!), I was in the mood for warm-weather makeup — tinted moisturizer, lots o’ lashes, lip gloss and Sun Rush’s peachy golden bronze shimmer.

Sometimes referred to as a water-based liquid bronzer, other times as a pearly highlighter, I call Sun Rush a reason to fall to my knees and humbly pay tribute to the Makeup Goddess of Faux Tans…whom you may refer to in whispers as Bronzeta.

Whenever I dot a couple drops of Sun Rush on my upper cheekbones and swirl them in with a MAC 224 or 217 brush, usually on top of whatever tinted moisturizer or light foundation I may be wearing (and possibly blush tint if I’m feeling extra ambitious), I’m transformed into one of those impossibly chic beach gals who wears Pucci print caftans, calls strangers dahhling and resort hops between the poshest places in the South of France.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, Duuuuude, I look relaxed.
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Gorgeous Cosmetics Colour Pro Powder Blush in Peach Glow: Bluffing My Way To Beach Babe Status, One Swipe at a Time

March 19th, 2013 by Karen 24 Comments

Gorgeous Cosmetics Colour Pro Powder Blush Peach Glow — Gorgeous Cosmetics Colour Pro Powder Blush in Peach Glow ($30)

I need a partner in crime…

Let’s blow this gloomy popsicle stand, and fly somewhere tropical for the rest of the week.

What do ya say? Call in sick with me tomorrow? Last-minute tickets to Kauai?

I don’t know what the weather’s like where you are, but it was cloudy and rainy here today. And tomorrow’s supposed to be more of the same.

Ptooey! Here, put this orange hibiscus behind your ear…

There. Now let’s pretend we’re sitting on the beach with iced coffees and watching the waves…

Are you pretending? I hope you’re pretending with me, because if would be weird if I were just doing it alone. 🙂

You know what else is more fun in pairs? Surfing.

I’m no surf pro or anything, unless we’re talking about quickly standing up and falling down, but I have figured out that it helps to watch the water for a few minutes before paddling out. That way you get a feel for the current and where the waves are breaking first.

Hmm… I feel like we need something more to take this whole escape of ours to the next level, maybe something like Colour Pro Blush in Peach Glow from Gorgeous Cosmetics.

The ample Aussie makeup brand recently arrived on US shores at Nordstrom stores and online. Peach Glow is the only product I’ve tried, but it was enough to color me intrigued.

I know, it’s $30. Yuck. And the compact does seem rather small (0.16 ounces), but I swear it’s like a wormhole! Gorgeous Cosmetics defied physics by squeezing a five-day tropical vacation into this one little pan.

The shimmery peach powder glides onto skin like a gentle off-shore breeze… All it takes is a single swipe of my blush brush for color that lasts all day long.

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MAC Mineralize Moisture SPF 15 Foundation Looks Like Real Skin, Feels Like Nothing and Garners Compliments From Complete Strangers

March 18th, 2013 by Karen 37 Comments

Um, you know when you find a pair of jeans that makes your bum look like it belongs in a naughty music video? Isn’t that one of the best things ever? 🙂

It’s like when you’re wearing a new foundation and a stranger tells you that your skin looks great.

Gurl, it happened to me yesterday at the mall wearing the new $33 MAC Mineralize Moisture SPF 15 Foundation, and it was joy.

I was at the Blue Mercury at the Corte Madera mall chatting with one of the sales associates about skin care. She complimented me on my skin and seemed genuinely surprised when I credited MAC Mineralize Moisture, a completely new line of liquid foundations designed with dry skin and sheer-to-medium coverage in mind.

She assumed I wasn’t wearing any foundation at all, so I said to myself, “SCORE!” I gotta say, when a foundation fools a fellow beauty addict, there’s magic afoot…

What kind of magic?

Well, the kind that brings mannequins to life…by which I mean the satiny finish, which has just the faintest hint of a shine, keeps skin from looking flat or artificial.

It comes in a whopping 18 shades, too — NC15, NC20, NC25, NC30, NC35, NC37, NC40, NC42, NC44, NC45, NC50, NW20, NW25, NW30, NW35, NW43, NW45 and NW50.

I usually wear MAC foundations in NC42, but when MAC sent me a few shades to test, they left that one out, so I’ve been wearing a lighter shade, NC30, to sort of highlight the areas beneath my eyes, on my nose, between my brows and in the middle of my forehead, and a mix of NC30 and NC44 everywhere else.

Those two together seem like a pretty good match for me (note to self).

MAC Mineralize Moisture SPF 15 Foundation swatches — Four of the 18 shades of MAC Mineralize Moisture SPF 15 Foundation from the left: NC30, NC44, NC45 and NW50

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Forget Milkshakes, theBalm’s Cabana Boy Blush Brings All the Boys to the Yard

March 15th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

That’s theBalm Cabana Boy Blush ($21) on my cheeks

Once I babysat this adorable little girl who somehow knew the lyrics to that Kelis song, Milkshake…and she also took them to heart.

She believed that milkshakes would literally bring all the boys to the yard, and since she also believed that all boys were yucky, she swore to never have a milkshake.

Hahaha! From the mouths of babes… 🙂

That’s what I thought of this morning when I pulled out theBalm’s new $21 Cabana Boy Blush. Like the milkshake of the makeup world, it’s also supposed to bring all the boys to the yard.

In a manner of speaking. theBalm claims that this pigmented, warm rosy pink, with its hint of plum, will have the boys (or girls) attending to your every whim.

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Two Swipes Will Have You Hooked and Ready For Pancakes! The Tarte Awakening Cheek Stain Rallies Brunch Enthusiasts, 5-Minute Makeup Fans and Blush Scaredy Cats

March 14th, 2013 by Karen 27 Comments

Blueberry pancakes, eggs, hash browns, refill after refill of piping hot coffee (with extra cream and a teaspoon of sugar)…

Oh, man… My muffin top just quivered with delight. It’s only Thursday, and I’ve got Sunday brunch on the brain! It’s all Tarte’s new $30 Awakening Cheek Stain’s fault.

There’s just something so right about going out for weekend brunch or breakfast noms wearing minimal makeup, ya know? I usually lack the coordination/motivation to do a full-on look early on a Sunday morning, so out come my five-minute minimal makeup routines, like this one here: brows, tinted moisturizer, under-eye concealer, mascara, gloss and barely-there cheek colors like Tarte’s Awakening, a nude pink gel blush that’ll leave your brunch buddies wondering whether you’re wearing any blush at all.

Being a part-time lazy girl, I love this thing. I swipe the stick twice on each cheek either directly on bare skin or tinted moisturizer. Then, I blend in the edges with my fingers and bam! — pinched, flushed cheeks that look like I just finished a brisk walk.

Awakening gets the whole “no-makeup makeup” thing totally right. Just enough color for perky cheeks, and I think the slightly shiny finish, with its faint hint of shimmer, keeps it from looking fake or flat.

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