Nails

The Empire Strikes Back With Bobbi Brown Shimmer Nail Polish in Black Pearl

November 29th, 2012 by Karen 25 Comments

Because we’re friends, I’m going to tell you the real reason I’m head over heels in love with Bobbi Brown’s $18 Black Pearl Nail Polish without you thinking that I’m cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

Okay, here goes…

It’s the color of Darth Vader’s helmet.

I spent years scouring the universe (and nail polish displays) for a nail polish the color of Vader’s helmet, and finally, after all these years, success! Mwahahahahaaa!

Emperor Palpatine will be pleased…

($18; available now at Bobbi Brown counters and bobbibrowncosmetics.com)

Sure, Vader’s a really bad guy, but you have to admit — that helmet holds a certain allure.

It’s shiny, which I like, and the color’s quite complex (like Vader himself). Sometimes, it looks more gray than black, and when the light hits it right, I see dark, gloomy purple undertones…

If I ever bump into George Lucas again at the movies, I’m telling him about Bobbi’s Black Pearl Polish because I think Darth would totally love it, especially on his toes, where he could probably get away with a single pigmented coat.

I can see it now… Vader, at the end of a long day hunting down rebels on the Death Star, takes off his boots for a few minutes of “me time” while painting his nails.
[Continue reading…]

Professor Sonia Kashuk’s Class in Modern-Day Makeup Metallurgy Starts With the Four-Piece Precious Gems Lip, Liner & Nail Set for $12.99

November 16th, 2012 by Karen 16 Comments

Wearing the new Sonia Kashuk Precious Gems Lip, Liner & Nail Set ($12.99), available now at Target

QUESTION: What’s better than a fantabulous smokey eye look?

ANSWER: A fantabulous smokey eye look with a twist!

There are so many reasons to like Sonia Kashuk’s new four-piece Precious Gems Lip, Liner & Nail Set, like the price (just $12.99), and Sonia’s contemporary take on the mixed metal theme…

…but my top reason, by far, is the liquid eye liner that comes with the set. It’s a metallic, rosy golden taupe with a mirror-like shine that illuminates lash lines like Hollywood special effects.

Remember the gorgeous Chanel Rose Platine eyeliner from spring 2011? Well, this metallic meistro is like a liquid liner version of that.

I almost can’t believe the set is only $13, because it kinda looks like something Coco would do (and sell for considerably more!).

To take a pair of smokey eyes for a metallic walk on the wild side, just do your regular smokey eye look first (here I’m wearing MAC Patina Eyeshadow on top of a base of MAC Feline Eye Kohl). Then, line your upper lash lines with the liquid liner from the set.

The stuff is packed with metallic pigment, so one or two layers should do the trick.

Sonia Kashuk Precious Gems Lip Liner Nail Set swatches — Lipgloss on the left, and the Eyeliner on the right

[Continue reading…]

Oh, Joy! The China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection and Wythe Blue Walls

November 9th, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

Friend, if you look out your window and see pigs flying by, do not be alarmed, because after today, that’s entirely possible. Shoot, after today, almost anything’s possible!

You see, something miraculous happened here today at Casa de MBB.

Today the sad, lonely dining room that still sits empty after more than three years…

…received two new coats of paint!! 🙂

Yup, it’s really real this time. It actually happened. I have Wythe Blue walls!

Next stop, a dining room table (just like a real grownup)…

Oh, and the dining room wasn’t the only thing that got a new paint job here today. My paws also got one — or rather, a dozen — thanks to the 12 shades in the new China Glaze Holiday Joy collection.

[Continue reading…]

Bond Girl Makeup Looks Inspired by the OPI Skyfall Collection: From GoldenEye, Xenia Onatopp

November 8th, 2012 by Karen 32 Comments

bond girl looks xenia onatopp 1 — A Xenia Onatopp Bond girl makeup look inspired by the OPI Skyfall collection nail polish in GoldenEye

“M, what on earth is this contraption?”

“That, Bond, is a Thighmaster. Google it.”

“My thighs need no mastering, M.”

“Famous last words, Bond. Famous last words.”

. . .

Can I just say how hard it is to find a frickin’ Thighmaster these days? Because really, if you’re gonna dress up as Bond girl Xenia Onatopp, you want your thighs to be like BAM! — straight-up killing machines!!

I’m not kidding either. In 1995’s GoldenEye, Xenia, played by the gorgeous Famke Janssen, is the Bond babe who famously kills by crushing people to death with her thighs (wha?!).

(Keep in mind, this was before MMA was popular, LOL!)

In fact, Xenia almost takes out Pierce Brosnan’s Bond in one of their encounters…

I sure love Xenia’s makeup in the movie. She smolders in a smokey eye and rich red lips while she seduces her prey.

Psycho on the inside, but she keeps it classy on the outside.

Nice. 🙂

This afternoon I thought I’d pattern my makeup after hers — not literally copying it, but I tried to capture the same feel, with the biggest difference being that I used a rich gold eyeshadow to play off the OPI GoldenEye polish on my nails.

opi goldeneye — OPI GoldenEye, from the new Bond-themed Skyfall nail polish collection

bond girl looks xenia onatopp 3 — Wearing three coats of OPI GoldenEye

[Continue reading…]

Bond Girl Makeup Looks Inspired by the OPI Skyfall Collection: From Skyfall, Savarine

November 7th, 2012 by Karen 34 Comments

bond girls severine skyfall look — A Savarine Bond girl makeup look inspired by the OPI Skyfall collection nail polish in Skyfall

“Bond, I’m going to need you to be on your toes for this next assignment. This group is very dangerous.”

“Whatever you say, M.”

“I’m serious, Bond. Cat ladies are the real deal. They’ve been known to actually persuade spies to abandon their missions and join the cat crusade. They will not stop until the world goes full-on feline!”

“So…does that mean I have to keep my paws to myself?”

. . .

Yeah, so if the curmudgeonly cat lady thing doesn’t pan out for me over the next couple of years, I might just become a full-time, self-employed Bond girl. Seriously! I’d have no problem slinking around the house by myself all day long looking all mysterious and sultry like Savarine, the Bond girl from Skyfall, the latest installment in the series.

I’d be totally fine with that.

In the movie, which opens this Friday across North America, Savarine is played by French actress BÃ©rÃ©nice Marlohe. I’ve forbidden myself from reading any spoilers, even though I desperately want to (just two more days!), but movie stills are okay, especially when the makeup, hair and nails are to die for, like they are in these pics of Savarine.

Ooh, I that gray eye look… It’s kinda smokey, and I dig the cat eye shape.

See how the shadow slightly wings out at the ends? I feel like it elongates the eye. Oh, and peep the inner corners, and how her eyeshadow tracks her tear duct, ending in a slightly pointed tip. Makes it look even more feline, meow! 🙂

I was really inspired today by Savarine’s look, so I thought I’d give it a try this afternoon and wear it with OPI’s dark plummy red Skyfall nail polish.

The eyes: step by step

[Continue reading…]

Bond Girl Makeup Looks Inspired by the OPI Skyfall Collection: From The World Is Not Enough, Elektra King

November 5th, 2012 by Karen 27 Comments

An Elektra King Bond Girl makeup look — An Elektra King Bond girl makeup look inspired by the OPI Skyfall collection nail polish in The World Is Not Enough

“James?”

“Yes, M?”

“Be…careful.”

“Always.”

“No, James, I mean it. This Tabs character is…dangerous. This whole playboy tabby supermodel persona of his is just a cover. We know he’s up to something… We just don’t know what it is yet.”

“What do we know about his current location?”

“We know you’re close. He was spotted last night at a Petco in Novato, and we expect him to return there tonight. He appears to have a penchant for gravy…”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“I want you to be there when he arrives at the Petco tonight.”

“And?”

“Bring him in, James. I want you to stop that cat.”

. . .

T-minus four days till the new Bond movie unleashes suave justice on American movie goers and I. CAN’T. WAIT.

I grew up on a steady diet of James Bond. 🙂 Both of my parents loved the movies, and when I was a kid, whenever a new one would come out, my folks would pack us all up in the car, and take us to the local drive-in.

Yep, I said drive-in. We used to have an actual drive-in movie theater in our town (some years ago the lot was turned into a strip mall).

Skyfall, the latest film in the Bond franchise, opens this Friday nationwide, and OPI recently released a new 12-piece Bond movie-inspired nail polish collection of the same name.

I was taking a shower the other day when I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to do a series of makeup looks inspired by Bond girls and the colors in the new OPI Skyfall collection?

Yes, yes, I think it would. 🙂

And for the first one, how about Elektra King? She plays cat and mouse with Bond in 1999’s The World Is Not Enough.

It’s not one of my favorite Bond films — I cracked up laughing at the pained expression Pierce Brosnan makes in the unintentionally funny seduction/torture scene below — but I love, LOVE the nail polish based on the movie in the Skyfall collection!

OPI The World Is Not Enough from the Skyfall collection

It’s a shimmery purplish taupe with tiny flecks of glitter, and it looks almost like a silvery khaki sometimes, depending on the light.

So beautiful…

opi the world is not enough swatch — Wearing three coats of OPI’s The World Is Not Enough (but you could probably get away with two)

In the 1999 movie, Elektra King is played by the gorgeous Sophie Marceau. There’s a scene during which she puts JB through hell while wearing a sultry smokey eye and a full-length purple, taupe and black gown — you know, because when you’re inflicting pain upon an international super spy, why settle for sweats?

[Continue reading…]

It’s a Giant Halloween! Here’s My Hodgepodge Mani Mix of Glittery Copper, Black and Orange Shades With Zoya, OCC, Deborah Lippmann and Sonia Kashuk

October 31st, 2012 by Karen 29 Comments

I did a couple of different things last night. One, I painted my nails orange and black, both for Halloween and to cheer the Giants winning the World Series, and two, I (kinda) watched The Last Exorcism on Netflix.

On that last one…good grief! What was I thinking firing up a movie about a teenager possessed by a demon 30 minutes before bed?!

Come on, Karen, wake up!

I actually didn’t make it through the whole thing on account of a terrible scene involving a little barn kitty…

I couldn’t take it! But thankfully my nails were dry by then, so I just ran away from the TV screaming “No! No! No!” and went upstairs to bed.

For my nails, I knew I wanted something more complicated than a single color but easier than a fancy work of nail art, so after digging through my drawer of polishes, I settled on a hodgepodge mani mix of glittery copper, black and orange shades…

paint-job-halloween-polish — Clockwise from the black polish in the lower left: Sonia Kashuk Starry Night, Deborah Lippmann I Love the Nightlife, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Copperhead and Zoya Penny

There’s a big rally/parade down in San Francisco today for the Giants, and I’m heading down, but please don’t tell Tabs. I know he’d want to go, but he’s such a cat diva. With the time it takes him to get ready, we’d never make it on time.

My plan is to distract him by mixing a handful of Greenies in with his gravy. Then I’ll quietly sneak out the door. 🙂

In candy news, do you ever crave chocolate in the morning?

I don’t know if it’s hormonal (probably), or just because there’s a big bag of Fun Size Snickers on the kitchen counter, but every day lately I wake up ravenous for chocolate.

What’s up with that?

[Continue reading…]

Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas: Disco Queen

October 30th, 2012 by Karen 48 Comments

last minute halloween ideas: disco queen

When that brief moment of pause hits as you’re about to push the “order” button on that sequined, sleeveless black jumpsuit, and you think to yourself, “Really, will I ever have a reason to wear this crazy contraption?!” — IGNORE IT.

You just never know when you’ll get the urge to look like Blanche Marie Elizabeth Hollingsworth Devereaux. Or when you’ll need something to wear with your last-minute Disco Queen Halloween costume.

last minute halloween ideas: disco queen — Keep on dancin’!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love disco? Yes, my fellow Dancing Queen, I like to Let It Whip to Brick House!! You could’ve done The Hustle to half the songs played at my wedding, fo’ reals!