Face

It Was Love at First Blush for These Kittens: The New Kitten Collection Blusher Sticks From Paul & Joe

February 10th, 2012 by Karen 28 Comments

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Wearing Paul & Joe Blusher Stick in Minou on my cheeks and Glamour Puss on my upper cheekbones

Apparently, the recipe for shifting one’s crazy cat lady levels from relatively normal to full-on insane calls for kitties, blush, top hats and bow ties. Thank you, Paul & Joe, for unleashing this knowledge unto the world! Now, armed with your new Blusher Sticks ($28 each), I can realize my true CCL potential. 🙂

Part cream blush, part art project, these three Blusher Sticks — matte pink Minou, matte orange Catfight and shimmery beige Glamour Puss — just might be the cutest pieces of makeup I have ever seen.

Released with the new Paul & Joe limited edition Kitten Collection, available now on counters and online, each stick is about the same size as a lipstick.

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Blusher Sticks from the left: Minou, Catfight and Glamour Puss

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Minou

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Glamour Puss
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Oil Doesn’t Stand a Chance Against Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage Foundation with SPF 15

February 3rd, 2012 by Karen 30 Comments

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The Amazon is a vast tropical river basin filled with astonishing animals and prehistoric plants. Freaky!

But apparently the clay there only comes in eight different shades… 🙂

Tarte recently released a new foundation to go with their new Maracuja Divine Shine Lip Glosses, Amazonian Clay Blushes, Maracuja Blush & Glows and Bright Side eye brightener, and like some of their other products, it contains Amazonian clay.

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Available now at Sephora stores and sephora.com, new Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage foundation with SPF 15 ($38) comes in a modest eight shades.

The foundation has been one of the things I’ve been really looking forward to trying from Tarte’s spring line, not just because it gets several five-star reviews on the Sephora website, but also because I already heart Tarte’s Smooth Operator Natural Oil-Free Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 20 and their Pressed Powder.

Tarte says that adaptability makes Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Full Coverage special. Designed for all skin types, it’s supposed to hydrate dry patches on the skin while simultaneously absorbing excess shine and oil.

This, I figured, had the makings of a major win!

My main concern? — would I be able to find a matching shade?

Well, not exactly… Tan, the shade that comes closest to my NC 42 skin, isn’t a perfect match. It’s a tad too light and peachy, and consequently looks a little ashy on me, but I still wanted to test the product’s other claims, so I wore it around the house.

Ingredients in Tan: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate Butylene Glycol, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone, Mica, Dimethicone, Silica, Phenoxyethanol, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 Dimethicone, Stearic Acid, Aluminum Hydroxide, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Caprylyl Glycol, Phytantriol, Hexyl Laurate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Sodium Chloride, Hexylene Glycol, Lysine, Tocopherol, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Nylon-12 Fluorescent Brightener 230 Salt, Polyvinylalcohol Crosspolymer, Kaolin, Magnesium Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Zinc Chloride, Sodium Hyaluronate, Potassium Sorbate, Iron Oxides.

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She’s a Sweet Peach: Laura Mercier CrÃ¨me Cheek Colour in Innocent Peach

February 1st, 2012 by Karen 55 Comments

I haven’t been on a first date in years, but in the event that time travel becomes a reality and El Hub and I get the chance to have ours all over again, I’m adding Laura Mercier’s CrÃ¨me Cheek Colour in Innocent Peach ($22) to my “Best Blushes to Wear on a First Date” list.

Sweet and Breezy are this blush’s middle names (yep, it has two of them). It’s a creamy peach blush fit for a sunny Saturday afternoon — perfect for coffee and chocolate croissants at the farmers’ market with your crush.

Swipe and blend a couple layers on the apples of your cheeks, add your favorite mascara, juicy lipgloss, skinny jeans, a tank top and some Chucks (maybe leaving your hair in a messy bun), and that boy (or girl) won’t stand a chance. 😉

And have I mentioned how easy it is to apply? Shoot, a gal could probably do it hanging upside down from monkey bars…which is basically my nightmare scenario.

SIDE NOTE: Once when I was a kid, I did fall from some monkey bars while I was hanging upside down… Honestly, I can’t really recommend it.

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For Minimal Coverage in This Universe and Others: Hourglass Hidden Corrective Concealer

January 31st, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

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I like to think that right now in an alternate universe “Alternate Universe Karen” is sitting and typing at her desk with a cup of Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies next to her keyboard.

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And, also on that parallel plane, Alternate Universe Karen is having a kick-@ss hair day, and she does NOT have a chocolate stain on the left thigh of her stretchy pants. While we’re at it, let’s dial down the intensity of her dark circles a few notches, ya know? Just because we can. 🙂

Here in this universe, however, earlier today, I did have a cup of Annie’s bunnies next to my keyboard. In fact, I planned to eat them after finishing this post, but then a cat (let’s call him Tabs) covertly consumed most of them before I could intervene.

Here in this universe today, my hair is also frizzy, and I do have a chocolate stain on my stretchy pants. Thankfully, it’s from See’s, and not some nasty, two-bit, bottom-of-the-barrel chocolate, because if I’m gonna be walking around the house with chocolate on my pants, at the very least it should be good.

Oh, and per usual, my dark under-eye circles are the deep hue of a ripe eggplant.

Alternate Universe Karen has had it much better today…

She eats her cup of Cheddar Bunnies and whips her Victoria’s Secret hair while her well-behaved cat marvels at her pristine, chocolate-free pants.

And since her dark circles only require minimal coverage, she uses Hourglass Hidden Corrective Concealer ($32) and sees spectacular results.

Previously only available in three shades, Hourglass recently added three more for spring (in Fair, Natural and Tan).

Alternate Universe Karen wears the one called Sand.

Swatch of Sand
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LORAC TANtalizer Should Tantalize Paler Pretties and Sweeties With Medium Skin Tones

January 31st, 2012 by Karen 18 Comments

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If you and your brushes like having lots of room to play in, it’s time to get tantalized. 🙂 This over-sized TANtalizer pan from LORAC ($32) is downright HUGE!

It combines a bronzer and highlighter in one gargantuan compact, which I went a little overboard with the first time I used, swiping my brush back and forth, back and forth, whee!

I assumed I was picking up too much product, based on how pigmented the shimmery champagne pink highlighter and warm matte brown bronzer look in the pan, but when I swept the highlighter along my upper cheekbones and along my jawline, what I saw was a nice surprise.

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Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow Could Use a Dash More Blush and a Tad Less Glow

January 29th, 2012 by Karen 19 Comments

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Wearing Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow in Sunlight on my cheeks

Aha! I knew I’d seen this unusual suspect before…

Tarte’s new Maracuja Blush & Glow line of tint and highlighter duos has been giving me major dÃ©jÃ vu. They look and feel awfully similar to a couple of my tried-and-true loves from NARS, namely the Multiples ($39) and Illuminators ($29).

Available now at Sephora stores and online for $32, each Blush & Glow comes with a Tarte Tint at the tip and a Luminizer in the tube.

MaracujÃ¡ oil comes from passion fruit seeds, and Tarte added it to the Maracuja Blush & Glows. They say it delivers a high dose of essential fatty acids and vitamin C to the skin when applied.

As similar as I think these are to the Multiples and Illuminators, I wouldn’t call them dupes. Their counterparts over at NARS do seem to pack a little more pigment and feel a tad smoother to me, but after giving all three Blush & Glow shades a try, I will say this: they’ve got game.

The Tint tip performs like a cream blush on bare skin or atop foundation, while the illuminating Luminizer, aka a liquid highlighter, bestows a shimmery glow to the tops of cheekbones, along brow bones or when added to foundation.

Shimmery champagne Candlelight appears to be the neutral babe in the bunch; cool-toned shimmery pink Moonlight should work well for gals who like the way they look in cool-toned pinks; and Sunlight, a warm shimmery peach, is just begging to play with warmer skin tones and tans.

I gave each of them a try on bare skin and then atop foundation, and I thought they did much better with foundation. On bare skin, the colors skipped town after about an hour, but they held their grown for 5 hours on top of foundation.

Part of me loves natural-looking cheeks, and that’s the part that adores the subtle glow I get from these duos. I also like how I can apply and blend them with my fingers. It’s just nice not having to use a brush, and it saves time for more important things, like emergency trips to See’s Candy, Target, Trader Joe’s and Petco (Tabs has been all about dried catnip lately) — or other times when I need to look presentable in a rush.

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Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow from the left: Sunlight, Candlelight and Moonlight

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From the left: Sunlight, Candlelight and Moonlight
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Is Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder Foundation a Miracle for Oily Skin?

January 28th, 2012 by Karen 62 Comments

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It’s a miracle! Luxury line Hourglass Cosmetics claims to have photographic evidence of a “miracle makeup for oily skin,” and it’s called Immaculate Powder Foundation.

What is it?

The new liquid-to-powder face product ($55 for a 1-ounce bottle) for guys and gals with oily, combination and acne-prone skin promises to polish skin tone with a lightweight formula and a natural-looking, long-lasting matte finish designed to last all day, and it’s not supposed to need a setting powder applied on top.

Since my skin is oily on my forehead, dry on my cheeks and prone to pimples around my chin, I say “Sign me up!” Let’s put this potential prizefighter to the test. 🙂

First things first, Immaculate’s bonafides look great on paper. The oil-free, water-resistant formula contains interesting botanicals like Phytostem Edelweiss, a Himalayan plant said to help heal cell damage, and Lavandox, an extract of Spanish lavender, which Hourglass claims helps to reduce the appearance of wrinkles by inhibiting muscle contractions. And it doesn’t contain parabens, phthalates, synthetic dyes, GMOs, synthetic fragrances or nanoparticles.

According to Hourglass, Immaculate doesn’t stop at evening out skin tone. It’s also designed to soften the look of fine lines, pores and imperfections, all while showing some love to skin.

LOL! I was mostly interested in this because I liked the idea of being able to skip powder. Anything to save a little time, ya know?

Limited selection of shades

Of the eight available shades (and more on that in a few)…

Porcelain
Shell
Ivory
Nude
Light Beige
Sand
Beige
Warm Beige

…Beige comes closest to my skin tone (I’m an NC 42 in MAC), but it’s not an exact match, as it does have a lot of, um, beige in it.

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It can look a little ashy on me if I wear too much, but as long as I only apply a couple of thin layers, it’s close enough. A lemony beige with an extra dose of yellow in it would probably have been a closer match.

Finding a perfect match among Immaculate’s eight shades could be a challenge, especially if you have a deep tan or a darker skin tone. It seems like many of these shades cater to ladies with lighter and medium skin, and if you’re darker than I am, Warm Beige is the only shade here that might be a match.

And it’s a shame, too, because the formula, which applies as a liquid but dries to a powder, took Hourglass a year to perfect. It’s just so neat! As you work the liquid into your skin, it dries to a very fine powder.

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The coverage

For coverage like the kind I’d wear with casual jeans and a t-shirt — just to even out my skin tone and disguise any little pimples on my chin — I use half a pump applied with my fingers or something like the Hourglass No. 2 Foundation Brush ($58).

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But for dressier events, say, for skin to go with a cocktail dress and heels, I’ll use a second half a pump on my cheeks and chin for nearly opaque coverage.

Either way, I think Immaculate looks great. My initial reaction the first time I saw myself in the mirror with it on was “Wow!”

Matte foundations don’t always look like this. Some look heavy, like a mask, but Immaculate still looks very natural natural to me. Dare I say it? 🙂 Almost like I’m not wearing anything at all, LOL!

I think the difference is the finish. It just has a lot of life in it, a slight sheen that keeps it from looking dull and flat.
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January 26th, 2012 by Karen 45 Comments

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Oh, El Hub… Bless his heart. As much as I love that man, it took him three days to notice that I had pink streaks in my hair.

THREE DAYS.

And those streaks are not subtle.

So when he turned to me one day last weekend said, “Your skin looks really great today. Did you do something different?” I figured that the product responsible deserved a shout-out.

All hail the new EstÃ©e Lauder Illuminating Primer!

Designed for normal, combination and dry skin types, this lightweight $32 liquid primer, which I apply after moisturizer but before foundation, smoothes the skin to downplay fine lines and imperfections, imparts a soft opalescent sheen (like a mellower version of MAC Strobe Cream) and moisturizes with vitamin E and shea butter.

I like the lightweight, lotion-like texture, among other things, which reminds me of Laura Mercier’s Primer, and my nose likes the faint floral scent.

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Unblended (left) and blended (right)
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