Kits and Sets

With Four Neutral Eyeshadows and More, Benefit’s New $36 Set Is a Groovy Kind-a Kit

October 28th, 2013 by Karen 27 Comments

Benefit Groovy Kind-a-Love — The new $36 Benefit Groovy Kind-a Love

I tried hard not to think about Phil Collins today while playing with Benefit’s new $36 Groovy Kind-a Love holiday kit…but it was really, really hard, man.

I told myself, “Focus! Think about the eyeshadows!” (There are four of them, all neutrals and very wearable.) and “Get your head in the game, Karen! You could use the blush combo as a highlighter if you layer it on top of Benetint.”

But nooOOOoo. I just kept hearing Phil ask, “Wouldn’t you agree? Baby, you and me, got a groovy kind of love?”

Yup.

That tune is etched in my mind as the song my college neighbor played whenever a girl would break up with him.

He’d play it on full blast, too, and whenever Phil got to the chorus, the guy’s dog would get in on the action and start howling. 🙂

It was…sweet, and yet also painful.

Hopefully, wearing this limited edition eye and cheek kit will paint a different, but just as groovy, kind of love on my memory banks.

There’s a lot to like about it. It must have been designed with girls who love natural-looking pink cheeks and shimmery brown, beige and gold eyes in mind (like me!).

[Continue reading…]

For the Lipstick Commitment-Phobes, Introducing the New NARS Guy Bourdin Promiscuous Lip Pencil Holiday Set

October 25th, 2013 by Karen 41 Comments

When it comes to lip products, “I’m not a player, I just crush a lot,” she said, quoting Big Pun as she poured her 40 on the ground (RIP).

This does not, however, apply to other aspects of my life, although it briefly did when I was in my early 20s. That’s when I had my YOLO moment and tried being a player. The results were…disastrous. (This was around the time I dated that boy I met dancing in the cage. Oh, gawd!)

I quickly learned that I’m built for long-term monogamy when it comes to real relationships, but I’m kind of a ho as it pertains to lip products. 🙂 I’ve been known to have a new crush every day!

Enter the cheeky new $45 NARS Guy Bourdin Promiscuous Lip Pencil set, which kisses lips this holiday season with five NARS Lip Pencil mini faves (all existing colors).

No need to commit to just one color when you have…

Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in New Lover, a golden strawberry pink
Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Never Say Never, a pink lilac
Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Sex Machine, a pink mauve
Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita, a dusty rose
Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella, a scarlet red

And the minis come in their very own black zippered makeup pouch, complete with shiny blue lips.

Um…weird! They look like my lips do after I have a blue raspberry Icee (I was craving one today).

I kind of wish the lips were red, though, like the box in the Fling set, but maybe that seemed too matchy-matchy to the peeps at NARS.

Whatevs, I think the set’s still more fun than Fling. It has more intense brights, like Cruella and Never Say Never.

The bulk of the set is comprised of colors from the Velvet Matte collection and ooh! — I love the textures. The pencils feel smooth on my lips, not heavy at all, and they aren’t the least bit drying. We’re talking very comfy mattes, and they last from 4-5 hours.

The Velvet Lip Gloss in the set, New Lover, has a shorter wear time of 2-3 hours, but I’m cool with that because I really like how it looks. It sure is shiny, and it’s nowhere near as thick or heavy as some glosses. It’s one of those great neutrals you can just throw on when you have to get up early for work but didn’t sleep well the night before.

But here’s a brief warning from one cat lady to another: if you’re wearing this, kitty fur will definitely cling to your lips. Yes, it’s kind of sticky.

I really like this set and can see myself wearing these glosses down to nubs, but since there are no new colors here, you may already have some of these shades in your kit.

I recommend it more for NARS newbies who want a grand tour of some of the brand’s greatest Lip Pencil hits. All in all, it’s full of win, even with the weird blue lips.

PRICE: $45
AVAILABILITY: Coming November 1 exclusively to Sephora and sephora.com
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A-

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Four Lippies in This New NARS Guy Bourdin Holiday Gift Set Fling Giant Kisses

October 24th, 2013 by Karen 36 Comments

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set — Big kiss!

MMMWWAH!

I dunno… Do you think it’s too much to walk around with these red lips from the NARS Guy Bourdin Fling holiday gift set like this?

Too much?

It might be the closest I ever come to looking like one of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (go team Vanderpump!).

The set’s called Fling, but I suspect a great many girls will want to go steady with it.

It features four lippies — pastel pink Roman Holiday Lipstick, dusty rose Dolce Vita Velvet Matte Lip Pencil, sheer grape Damage Lipstick and raspberry Baroque Velvet Gloss Pencil — in transitional colors that sort of skirt the line between traditional winter and spring shades (or perhaps summer and fall).

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set lipsticks from the left: Lipstick in Roman Holiday, Lipstick in Damage, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita and Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Baroque — Lipstick in Roman Holiday, Lipstick in Damage, Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Dolce Vita and Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil in Baroque

NARS Guy Bourdin Fling Gift Set swatches from the left: Roman Holiday, Damage, Dolce Vita and Baroque — Swatches from the left: Roman Holiday, Damage, Dolce Vita and Baroque

[Continue reading…]

Laura Mercier’s Luxe Stickgloss Holiday Collection Sticks It to Dry Lips

October 18th, 2013 by Karen 15 Comments

Laura Mercier Baby Lips Stickgloss — Baby Lips

To all my dry-lipped ladies, throw yo’ hands up! Throw yo’ hands up! Throw yo’ hands up!

If I were a platinum record-selling rap superstar, and not just a husky tabby’s professional pet assistant, that would be my on-stage audience response chant.

I seriously doubt that it would catch on pop culture fire like “Who let the dogs out” did, which reminds me, remember when people were using that in casual conversation, like “How’s it going, Jane?” “Oh, it’s going great. Who let the dogs out!? Who, who, who, who — who let the dogs out!?”

So annoying…

Whatevs, I live for excitement! I want everyone to throw their hands up like I did when I tried the four lippies in Laura Mercier’s new $48 Luxe Stickgloss Collection holiday set.

Sheer and slick, like a cross between a lipstick and a balm, they hydrate like ca-ray-zaaaay! — and look great, too. Rosy pink Brown Sugar, warm pink Baby Lips, coppery Courtisane and plummy Peony glow with a soft, sophisticated shine, and they also make my lips look a little fuller, methinks.

Laura Mercier Stickgloss Set — Pretty ladies!

Laura Mercier Courtisane Stickgloss — Courtisane

Laura Mercier Brown Sugar Stickgloss — Brown Sugar

[Continue reading…]

A $48 Cruise? Yup, With the Tarte Gorgeous Getaways Portable Palette Set

October 16th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

If you’re setting a course for adventure this year and plan to live out of a suitcase for any length of time over the holidays, you might want to treat yourself to an early, travel-friendly gift — Tarte’s Gorgeous Getaways Portable Palette Set ($48).

Like upwardly mobile kitty modeling moguls, it’s built to go places, but even at home, it looks gorgeous on a dresser.

Like cruise ships, it’s divided into layers.

The powder eyeshadows and blushes hang out on the top tier…

[Continue reading…]

According to My Calendar, It’s Time for a Beauty Treat: The New Benefit Countdown to Love Advent Calendar Beautifully Counts

October 15th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Five, four, three, two…

LOVE!

The countdown to love is on, and Benefit is managing the clock. You might feel the love, too, if you find Benefit’s new Countdown to Love Advent Calendar ($68) under the tree this year.

Remember advent calendars when you were a kid? With the tiny toys or pieces of candy hidden behind little pop-out compartments? They’d usually start on the first day of December, or thereabouts, and you’d get to open another one of the compartment every day all the way to Christmas.

The ones I usually got had hard candies and chocolates, and those were always fun, but Benefit took the idea to a higher plane of awesomeness with their new Countdown to Love kit, which was obviously designed to drive Benefit babes wild.

Countdown to Love comes with 24 surprises, which works out to just under $3 each, including 21 travel-sized mini Benefit products and three accessories (two charms and a barrette).

Yes, it’s really, really cute, albeit extra large, but it’s more than that. It contains some of the best stuff in the Benefit line — practical, everyday products you could work into your rotation immediately, like Hoola, CORALista, Benetint and Highbeam.

Benefit Countdown to Love Advent Calendar sugarbomb — Hoola, Sugarbomb and Sunbeam

[Continue reading…]

The New Too Faced Jingle All the Way Pop-Out Makeup Palette Leaves a Makeup Message After the Beep

October 11th, 2013 by Karen 14 Comments

To all the beleaguered pet assistants and/or ladies (and dudes) living under the tyrannical paw of their feline overlords…please do not expect to actually keep the cute iPhone case that comes with the Too Faced Jingle All the Way Pop-Out Makeup Palette ($25).

Because once your cat captor sees the adorable pink and gold design, basically, you’re toast. He or she will claim it as their own quicker than you can say, “Siri, what time does Petco close tonight??”

Ha! I made myself laugh… 🙂

This gift set is all kinds of cute! The iPhone case (iPhone 5 only) is a neat twist, but yeah, there’s also a makeup palette (which cleverly pops out).

Talk about perfect stocking stuffers.

Just be careful to hide it from your makeup-loving, fashion-forward pet; otherwise, you’re liable to lose it. Shoot, I had the case on my phone all but two seconds before Tabs claimed it as his own.

The moment I finished replacing his current Kate Spade phone case for this one, I got a text from Tabs that read, “stop pouting, strt swatching 11 shadows, blush, bronzer asap, thx.”

Whatever tabby wants, tabby gets (sigh). Remind me again why I signed up for this gig…

[Continue reading…]

Four Tiny Tempting Treasures Frolic in the New $20 Too Faced Cosmetics Beauty Blogger Darlings Set

September 24th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

The new Too Faced Beauty Blogger Darlings set ($20)

I firmly believe that good things come in small packages…and not just because I’m too “vertically challenged” to reach anything on the higher shelves at the grocery store. 🙂

Teeny-tiny, travel-sized, diminutive and mini — if it’s small and cute, me likey, me likey.

Entering stage left on pint-sized feet this fall, the new Too Faced Beauty Blogger Darlings set, available now online and at Sephora.

The $20 kit, a $55 value, comes with four pocket-sized pieces of Too Faced makeup beloved by beauty bloggers…including a certain makeup-lurving cat lady you might know, what-what!

Decorate yourself with deluxe mini-me versions of Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer (OMG, smells so good!), Primed & Poreless Skin Smoothing Face Primer and Shadow Insurance Eye Shadow Primer.

[Continue reading…]