Kits and Sets

These Benefit Sets Turn Heads: Part 2 of the Benefit Holiday 2016 Sets

September 13th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

benefit dolly darling girls gone wow — Two of the six Benefit Holiday 2016 sets (which are joined by the sets in this post here)

These girls turn heads!

Get it…? Turn heads?

Oh, staaaaap! It was low-hanging cheesy pun fruit. You know I had to go there. 🙂

It’s amazing how accurately these tins capture that perfectly pouty and disinterested Instagram face. I mean, it’s not easy to do that face. Every time I try it, I end up looking like I ate a lemon…

Haha!

Girls Gone Wow, Dolly Darling and Girl-O-Clock Rock are the remaining three of the six sets Benefit is releasing for the holidays this year (here are the other three), and purr usual, they contain a combo of full-sized and miniature versions of products from the permanent line.

If you decide to keep the collectable tins to repurpose them, I suggest NOT setting them on the dresser directly across from your bed…because if you wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and see a floating head staring at you in the dark, that would be utterly terrifying.

The $46 Benefit Girls Gone Wow set ($99 value)

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Three Ways to Brow Wow With the New $34 Benefit Brow Kits in Soft & Natural, Defined & Refined and Bigger & Bolder

September 10th, 2016 by Karen 8 Comments

Good morning, glory! Today we’re talking brows, and I’m wondering…would any plaid skirt-wearing, midriff-bearing ’90s girl worth her salt have bothered with any of the new Benefit Brow Kits back in the day? As a survivor of the decade that gave us the Jeremy Jordan (and, as someone who plucked away her brows into oblivion), I think I can safely say HELL NO.

All matte errrthing? Coo’. Dark brown vampire lips? Feelin’ it. Of all the ’90s makeup trends that have boomeranged back into the public consciousness recently, I’m so happy the ’90s brow has stayed back in ye olde times.

OMG, dude. Or should I should I say ’90s non-brow? — because really, there wasn’t a whole lot of brow to be working with.

Drew Barrymore in the '90s showing how it was done... — Drew Barrymore in the ’90s showing how it was done…

So, yeah, I love big brows and I cannot lie, and it looks like Benefit does too because their new $34 Brow Kits are all about full, lush brows.

Each one comes in versions with light, medium or dark shades and a different mix of full- and travel-sized brow products for specific looks…depending on what you’d like to wear with your Docs, velvet choker and your babydoll floral print dress that day. 🙂

The Soft & Natural Brows kit

First, to add just a little oomph to your natural brows, there’s the Soft & Natural Brows kit.

This one suits my style the most because I like a full brow that doesn’t look overly drawn in.

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Say Hey to the Gals in the Benefit Holiday 2016 Sassy Lassie, Girl-A-Rama and Kissy Missy Sets

September 9th, 2016 by Karen 12 Comments

benefit holidbenefit holiday 2016ay 2016 — Hey, cuties!

Babycakes, on a scale of “1” to full-blown Ricksanity, where do you think I’d stand if I were to walk into a salon with Benefit’s Kissy Missy Holiday 2016 set and said, “Do this to my hair”?

CUUUTE!

I’d wanna hang with a girl with bubblegum pink hair and big-@ss hoops. I bet she’d be cool as hell!

I want to hang with all of the girls on these new holiday sets from Benefit. These chicas are three of the six new Holiday 2016 Benefit sets that officially arrive on counters September 30 (although I’ve already seen a few of them at Ulta).

benefit holiday 2016 — Benefit Holiday 2016 Sassy Lassie set ($39)

Benefit loves their limited edition sets, and these have products — some with minis, some with full-size pieces and some with a combination of both — from their permanent line.

Of course, Benetint and Hoola make appearances, as they so often do every year (like in the $39 Sassy Lassie set here), but every once in a while Benefit will put newer items in a set, and that’s the case with the $46 Girl-A-Rama set, which has the new They’re Real Duo Shadow Blender in Brazen Bronze, and the Kissy Missy set, which has mini versions of the new They’re Real Double the Lip Lipsticks in Revved-Up Red and Pink Thrills.

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The Day in Beauty Vol. 20: The New $49 NARS Survival Kit 2, Connor Claire Cuteness and Wine for Yo’ Cat

June 25th, 2016 by Karen 31 Comments

We made it to Saturday, babe! Great job. 🙂 Wherever you are, I hope you have a nice weekend lined up.

I felt like switching up my makeup game today because I’ve been all about black eyeliner, beige and brown lids and nude lips lately. I love that look (it’s easy), but I felt like doing something different, hence the NARS Survival Kit 2 ($59), the second of two new limited edition sets coming soon from NARS (July 1 exclusively to NARS counters at Nordie’s). This one comes with two eyeshadows, two blushes, a mini gloss and a mini mascara.

This one incorporates color in a fresh way with everyday shades that aren’t intimidating, but also aren’t really typical of nude/neutral looks.

Beginning with Tokyo II Eyeshadow, a light satiny violet, which creates an absolutely gorgeous wash of color on the lids, ya know, if you don’t have a lot of time to get ready and you want to wear color, I think Tokyo II is a great way to go. Here I quickly buffed it on my lids with a domed brush and blended out the edges with a tapered brush.

Rich, warm reddish brown Galapagos, which is one of my absolute favorite NARS shadows, has tiny flecks of golden glitter. It also makes an appearance in the palette in this kit.

SO pretty and SO much hotness in smokey eyes, especially with a black base under it. Here, though, I decided to keep it simple, since I only gave myself 20 minutes to get ready this morning, so I used Galapagos as a liner by wetting an angled brush (the NARS #47, which I think is THE BEST angled brush for winged liner!), then applied Galapagos on my upper lash lines.

Wetting the brush intensifies the shadow and makes the brown richer and yummier and more milk chocolatey…and also makes the gold flecks really come through.

nars survival kit 2 k — Wearing NARS Survival Kit 2 on my eyes, cheeks and lips

Of the two blushes in this kit, Modesty and Daydream, Daydream is a satiny mid-toned peachy pink kinda like NARS Orgasm, but without the golden shimmer running through it. Sometimes I like colors like Daydream a little more than Orgasm, to be honest, because they don’t come with the same shimmery gold drama.

I mean, Orgasm’s really pretty too, but if you’re having a “big pore day,” it’s not always easy to wear.

And Modesty works well as a warm golden beige highlighter. I only need to use a little because it’s pretty shimmery and intense.

The kit also comes with a juicy, plummy red gloss called Phantasia. It’s so pigmented that it’s almost like wearing a liquid lipstick, but the glossy aspect of the gloss subsides over a few hours, leaving behind a soft stain.

nars survival kit 2 packaging — The NARS Survival Kit 2 packaging

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Sometimes Your Survival Depends on a Pretty Pink, and for Those Times There’s the NARS Survival Kit 1

June 23rd, 2016 by Karen 15 Comments

“I need makeup to survive!” she exhaled, placing the back of her left hand against her forehead melodramatically and tipping her head.

OK…so maybe eyeshadow, blush, gloss and mascara aren’t as important to your day-to-day survival as, you know, food and water, but they’re handy to have around! — especially when they come in chic limited edition packaging like they do in the new NARS Survival Kit 1.

The new limited edition set will cost $59 when it arrives in the Promised Land, also known as Nordstrom stores and the Nordstrom website, July 1st with a compact containing two powder eyeshadows and two powder blushes, a mini lipgloss and a mini mascara.

NARS Survival Kit 1

Naiade Eyeshadow
Audacious Mascara
Kalahari II Eyeshadow
Off Limits Blush
Mata Hari Blush
Party Girl Lip Gloss

I’d like to make a shout-out to Kalahari II, one of the eyeshadows in this kit. It’s a glistening taupe-plum, and I think it’s one of those “Ya gotta have it!” pieces from NARS. I’ve been wearing it for years (it’s also in the permanent collection). It lasts all day long and looks amaze-balls with bronze eyeshadow and/or liner.

nars survival kit 1 swatches — NARS Survival Kit 1 swatches

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The $325 NARS Cult Survival Kit: 11 Full-Sized Classics to Survive Work Days, Date Nights and the Zombie Apocalypse

June 22nd, 2016 by Karen 27 Comments

nars cult survival kitnars cult survival kit — The new limited edition $325 (yes, that’s the price) NARS Cult Survival Kit

Oh, NARS… You totally feel me dawg. I like how your new splurge-arific Cult Survival Kit, despite costing $325, doesn’t actually contain anything one might expect to find in a real life survival kit.

No water purification tablets, matches, heirloom seeds or weapons.

But you DO get full-sized versions of 11 NARS products.

Granted, would you really be carrying a fancy white lacquered box filled with makeup goodies into the sunset while roving gangs or zombies were chasing you? Probably not…although I might, because that’s how I roll. 🙂

Should the world fall apart, I’d like to wear a little gloss — just a little — until the zombies eat my brains.

nars cult survival kit — Everything comes in this sturdy white lacquered box

This kit is $325 bones, dude! But before you wave your hand and say, “Oh, hell no, girl,” check it: everything in it is full sized, and they’re all NARS cult classics handpicked by the man, the myth, the legend himself, François Nars.

Even at $325 for this kit, you are saving a little money, because if you were to purchase each of these items separately, it would cost you $361, so not only do you score $36 in savings, you also get a chic keepsake box.

nars cult survival kit open — What’s inside?

OK, so what have we got up in this mix? To start, two blushes — matte red Exhibit A and golden peach Orgasm (yes…Orgasm).

nars cult survival kit orgasm exhibit a — Blushes in Orgasm (left) and Exhibit A (right)

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With the Benefit Cheekathon Blush & Bronzer Palette, Your Cheeks Will Cross the Fabulous Line

May 11th, 2016 by Jen Clark 11 Comments

Benefit Cheekathon Blush and Bronzer Palette — The CUTEST packaging!

Benefit, Benefit, Benefit…oh, how I love you! You really nailed it with the Cheekathon Blush & Bronzer Palette.

What do you think of first when you think of Benefit? Do you think of their boxed powders? They’re so iconic to the brand, and for good reason. Every single one of them is uh-may-zing! And now, rather than having to go out and buy them all individually, you can get five of Benefit’s best blushes and bronzers at once with the $58 Cheekathon palette.

Normally in kits like this the actual pans are usually smaller than usual, but listen to this: all of these powders are FULL SIZED!

What?!

That is so impressive to me. You don’t see palettes like that every day, and normally a single full-sized blush or bronzer would run you $29, so for the price of two of them you’re getting five!

The blushes you get with Cheekathon are Rockateur (a shimmery rose gold), Dallas (a dirty rose), Coralista (a shimmery bright coral), and Dandelion (a bright baby pink). And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Benefit release without Hoola bronzer (a perfect matte). You get such a variety of colors and finishes with this palette that you could probably get away with never using another blush in your life.

You also get a little brush with the palette, which is actually pretty nice for contouring using Hoola.

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Get the Too Faced The Sweeter Side of Sexy 4-Piece Collection for $49 This Wednesday, an HSN Daily Special! #TOOFACEDXHSN

March 22nd, 2016 by Jen Clark 16 Comments

HSN is doing something crazy!

They’re selling this amazing Too Faced The Sweeter Side Of Sexy Makeup Collection for $49 this Wednesday (as of this moment, that’s tomorrow). Take advantage of this, people. It’s a great deal (HSN’s regular price is $59).

Not only do you get what looks like a giant chocolate bar…but it’s filled with some of the best Too Faced products. You get four full-sized items for $49 (AND free shipping), including the coveted Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette (regularly $49 all by itself), a Better Than Sex Mascara ($23), a Shadow Insurance Eyeshadow Primer ($20), and the Love Flush Long Lasting Blush in Justify My Love ($26). That’s a $118 value for $49! #TOOFACEDXHSN

“Too Faced The Sweeter Side of Sexy 4-piece Collection with 1-Year Allure Magazine Who doesn’t love chocolate in all its forms? Take your indulgence a step further with this kit that showcases a cocoa-infused collection of eyeshadows. Decadently rich pigments give you endless color possibilities, and a long-wearing shadow primer helps lock it all down. Finish your look with a bold, beautiful blush and a swipe of luxe, smudge-proof mascara. It might not be edible, but this complete collection is just as scrumptious as the real deal. (No drooling, please).”

— hsn.com

What you get

0.56 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette

0.21 oz. Love Flush 16-Hour Blush – Justify My Love (bright pink with fine gold sparkle)

0.35 oz. Shadow Insurance Eyeshadow Primer

0.27 fl. oz. Better Than Sex Mascara – Black

1-year Allure magazine subscription –> a nice extra

Not even kidding — all four of these products have been staples in my makeup collection, so ya know…I’m pretty much an expert on how well they all work.

The Semi Sweet Chocolate bar palette was given to me for Christmas 2014, and I have used little else since then. The shade selection is everything! You can create so many different looks, and you have everything that you need. There’s no need to go digging into another palette for a matte transition shade or an uber pigmented matte black because they’re already in here. The shadows blend like a dream and have amazing color payoff, to boot.

Not to mention, it smells like hot chocolate. 🙂 Every time you open the palette, it’s like opening a container of hot chocolate on a cold night, as the powder slowly spirals upward towards your nostrils, and you get a whiff of that cocoa-y goodness (the powders even have real cocoa powder in them).

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