A closeup of the new NARS Foreplay Cheek Palette, $49. Available now exclusively at Sephora stores and online at sephora.com.
NARS Foreplay Cheek Palette
Face
It Takes Two to Text, and a Duo Like Bobbi Brown’s New Bronzer/Blush Duo in Bahama Brown and Pink Peony to Shine With a Faint Glint of Shimmer
Every once in a while, like today, I want to raise my hands up and yell to the heavens above, “Thank you, universe, for inventing text messaging!”
Waiting in line at the [INSERT ANNOYING PLACE WITH LONG, EXCRUCIATINGLY SLOW-MOVING LINES HERE] wouldn’t be anywhere near as much fun without the random texts about boys and makeup that find their way to my phone. Par exemple, as our high school French teacher used to say, here’s one from my friend Jen yesterday…
And here’s the one I’d text you about Bobbi Brown’s new Bronzer/Blush Duo…
LOL! You might remember it from a few weeks ago when we looked at swatches of the Desert Twilight fall collection.
I just started wearing the limited edition $36 duo, which features Bobbi’s Bahama Brown Shimmer Blush and Pink Peony Illuminating Bronzer, and the compliments have been rolling in!
Sort of. Yesterday the mailman said, “You look less tired than usual,” and this morning El Hub asked if I’d been doing pushups because my cheeks looked “all pink and flushed.”
Not sure if either one qualifies as a compliment, but I’ll take ’em both. 🙂
Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Twilight Night Shimmer Ink on the left (also from the Desert Twilight collection), and the Bronzer/Blush Duo in Bahama Brown and Pink Peony on the right
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MAC Unsung Heroes: Format Blush
Well, damn.
I can’t find my pool key, which throws a wrench in my Fourth of July plans to laze about (slathered in sunscreen, of course) and frolic in the deep end.
I hope it turns up soon…before my Kauai tan is just a distant memory (or before I melt!).
Summer’s in the house, and it is 
HOT! Just like today’s Unsung Hero, MAC Blush in Format ($20).
It’s a bronzed, pinkish brown with a glint of golden shimmer, and it’s highly compatible with darker complexions and summertime tans. No third-party software required.
Bronzed poolside and beachside babes, don’t be afraid of Format based on how it looks in its pan. I was totally freaked out the first time I saw it, but then a friendly MAC artist insisted that I try “just a little bit” on my skin. It makes magic happen, she said, on skin tones from NC and NW 30-35 and up.
Hello, sun-kissed glow! Format brings the glam. Is that Beyonce in a Burberry bikini? All it’s missing is a wind machine to blow my hair back and Jay-Z (HOV!!) by my side, LOL!
Buff Your Way to a Flawless Finish With Urban Decay’s Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush
Urban Decay’s new foundation brush promises to blur the lines. Borrowing a page out of Hollywood’s Golden Age powder-puff playbook, where actors and actresses were often blurred in their closeups, the Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush ($24) buffs away lines to create seamless, smooth skin.
It reminds me of my own experiences with a different kind of optical blurring…
When my BFF Jen and I were younger and looking for love in all the wrong places (Club X and 1015 Folsom come to mind), the following conversation would go down at least once or twice every night we went out on the town…
ME: I think I see a potentially cute boy.
JEN: Where?!
ME: Standing over there at the bar, in the striped button-down shirt and dark pants.
JEN: (…) Every guy in here is wearing that outfit.
ME: No, really! I think he’s looking this way. Over your shoulder, six ‘o clock.
JEN: Oh, no baby. Did you forget your glasses again? We have to get you some contacts, like soon. That boy is kinda scary. Trust me on this.
Haha! Nothing like poor eyesight to mess up your game. 🙂
Luckily, the Good Karma Optical Blurring Brush is designed to improve it.
I met it through Urban Decay’s new fall collection, and it quickly became one of those little lifesavers that I never thought I needed before, but now can’t function without.
The soft, dense brush head feels almost as good as favorite husky tabby’s fur. Mrrow!
UD says they designed the brush to be used with their new line of Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup, but there’s nothing stopping us from using it with foundations or tinted moisturizers from other brands.
I can’t hang with streaky foundation, and the Optical Blurring Brush’s densely-packed, soft synthetic bristles and rounded tip definitely take care of streaks. Lately I’ve been using it apply Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer by NARS, and seriously, I think the application looks flawless.
I’ve also heard that synthetic bristles, being less porous than natural fibers, are less conducive to the growth of bacteria, potentially leading to fewer breakouts.
MAC Unsung Heroes: Ambering Rose Blush
Reddish gold, reddish-reddish gold, what? Reddish gold, reddish-reddish gold, huh? Reddish gold, reddish-reddish gold, wussup?
Okay, so MAC Ambering Rose Blush ($20) recently prompted me to do two things. 1) It prompted me to try to find out if there really is such a thing as an ambering rose (she wrote, as she googled “ambering rose,” which turned up this, this and this), and 2) it prompted me to want to get the word out about this gorgeous reddish gold.
I think it looks ah-may-zing on medium and darker skin tones, in particular skin tones from NC and NW 40 on up, but it doesn’t disappoint on fairer maidens, either, especially when applied using a fan brush (like Sonia Kashuk’s $8 Duo Fibre Brush) and a very light touch.
How much red and gold Ambering displays depends on your skin tone. On my NC 42 skin, I get realms of red and golden shimmer with just a hint of apricot. The color reminds me of a sheerer, less intense, but more golden version of NARS Taos, and I started incorporating it into my regular rotation of pink blushes earlier this year to mix things up a little.
To Blushbaby, another love of mine, I say, “I still love ya to bits,” but there are days when mama needs a break from the standard same-o, same-o.
I Blush So Easily With Simply Vera Vera Wang Cosmetics Illuminating Powder Blush
With so many starring roles in big budget blockbuster movies coming out this summer, Tabs has practically been living on the red carpets for weeks, which has meant that I’ve barely had 10 minutes to breathe, eat or blend out my blush.
Problem is, someone’s gotta field the phone calls from reporters inquiring about Tabs. “Is he seeing anyone?” “How much fur does he show in Magic Mike, and did he waive his nudity clause?”
Good grief…
Still, busy or not, even though I’ve been totally swamped doing tasks for Tabs, I will not leave the house without at least a little blush on my cheeks. No way, no how. That, my dear Tabs, is non-negotiable.
When I’m having one of those completely cray days, I like sheer blushes that are easy to apply, like the pinkish beige Simply Vera Vera Wang Illuminating Powder Blush in 315 ($19.50). It’s one of six Powder Blushes in Vera’s new makeup line now available at Kohl’s.
No need to pinch my cheeks when I’ve got 315 around. I just pop a little on my cheeks using the “bounce technique” and a blush brush. Very little blending required. I can be out the door at a moment’s meow. 🙂
Illuminating Powder Blush in 315, $19.50
MAC Unsung Heroes: MAC Iridescent Powder/Loose in Silver Dusk
Remember MAC Golden Bronze, that savant of shimmer, and maestro of multitasking, that helps you get your shimmer on in multiple ways?
Well, Golden Bronze has a cool cousin, MAC Iridescent Powder/Loose in Silver Dusk ($23), a shimmery, silvery pinkish beige that likes to party with cool skin tones.
Like Golden Bronze, you can use it as a highlighter, and for that I usually apply it with the MAC 224 Tapered Blending Brush on my upper cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, on my cupid’s bow and in the center of my chin; or, mix it with your favorite foundation, moisturizer or body oil for a glint of extra glow.
Cheeks Shine, Naturally, Wearing Korres Cheek Butter in Chara Crimson
Wearing Korres Cheek Butter in Chara Crimson
Flaky at breakfast, equal parts dry and oily by lunch, and then it’s “Welcome to Shine Central” by dinner.
My cheeks are so fickle! (How fickle are they?)
They’re fickle like a teenage girl (been there, done that). Thankfully, unlike parents who just don’t understand, my pot of Korres Cheek Butter in Chara Crimson ($25) totally gets my moody skin.
We hit it off when we met for swatches at Sephora a couple weeks back. It was just me, Chara and the other two available shades. They were so thick and creamy, and packed with pigment to spare, that it didn’t take long to tell there was something special about these.
We even started hanging out. 🙂
Berry pink Chara Crimson, the darkest of the three shades, really appeals to my lazy side. All it takes is a couple swipes to apply and blend it on my cheeks, but that’s not even the coolest part. I also love how it latches on to my skin and won’t let go for nothin’, lasting all day long without emphasizing any dry patches, flakes, pores or fine lines.
Whether I wear it by itself on bare skin or atop tinted moisturizer or liquid foundation, Chara Crimson always pinches my cheeks, so to speak, but in a way that still looks natural (no clown cheeks here).
It’s gotta be the shine.
Maybe that’s the secret sauce. It’s super subtle — just the quietest hint of a glow — but I think it’s why the finish looks so natural.
Chara Crimson
Korres swatches from the left: Cheek Butters in Philia Rose, Eros Coral and Chara Crimson; Magic Light Contouring Trios in Mykonos and Santorini
