Palettes

MAC Holiday 2015 | Enchanted Eve Eyes/Warm Eye Shadow X 6 Palette

October 14th, 2015 by Karen 11 Comments

mac enchanted eve eyes warm k — Wearing the MAC Enchanted Eve Eyes/Warm Eye Shadow X 6 Palette ($39.50) on my eyes

Have you ever heard the sound of makeup heartbreak? It sounds like broken pieces of eyeshadow sliding around in a MAC holiday palette… 🙁

mac enchanted eve eyes warm — MAC Enhanted Eve Eyes/Warm Eye Shadow X 6 ($39.50)

Yes, this happened.

But I didn’t let it stop me! To paraphrase the great Celine Dion, “My heart will go on…using these shadows with my makeup brushes.”

I finally took the new MAC Enchanted Eve Eyes/Warm Eye Shadow X 6 Palette ($39.50) from the MAC holiday 2015 collection (coming to the MAC website Oct. 18 and MAC counters and stores Oct. 22) out for a spin this week in the hopes that it would perform a better than the Navy version, and the verdit?
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MAC Holiday 2015 | Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick

October 14th, 2015 by Karen 7 Comments

mac enchanted eve pink lipstick — The MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick ($25; coming Oct. 18 to the MAC website and Oct. 22 to MAC counters and stores), one of two Lip Compacts in the new holiday collection

Ooh! All three of the pinks in the MAC Enchanted Eve Lip Compact in Pink Lipstick look like good “going out” colors, but if you do go out and bring this compact along, don’t forget to also bring a lip brush — that is, unless you don’t mind applying lipstick with your fingers in the bathroom at the club, and can you ever remember seeing a “clean” bathroom at da club??

Yeah, I didn’t think so…

One of two lip palettes in the new MAC holiday collection (the other one has corals), Pink Lipstick arrives with the rest of the collection Oct. 18 to the MAC website and at counters and stores Oct. 22, and it comes packed with three party-ready pinks — a light pastel pink called Saint Germain, a dark fuchsia called Let’s Rendezvous and a deep pinkish purple called Wined + Dined.

mac enchanted eve pink lipstick st germain — MAC Amplified Cream Lipstick in Saint Germain

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Try the LORAC Mega Pro Palette 2 for Pigmented, Hyper-Blended Eye Looks

October 13th, 2015 by Karen 11 Comments

WARNING: Try not to think too hard about the name of the new LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette, because it could leave your head spinning, as it has mine.

“Mega” usually means significant or major, so does that mean that you have to be a major pro to use it? And what kind of pro are we talking about? Because I’m a major pro at hoarding eyeshadow palettes. I’m also a mega pro when it comes to obsessing over the neighborhood cats. 🙂 And losing socks. I wonder… Do any of those talents apply to LORAC Mega Pro 2?

Feel free to not consider the above; otherwise, we could be here for days, and mama needs her Starbucks.

Basically, the $59 LORAC Mega Pro 2 Palette, which is available now exclusively at Ulta, could very well fool the world into thinking that you’re a world-class, “mega pro” makeup artist, even if your blending skills are mediocre.

If you like pigmented, hyper-blended eye looks, you’ll probably have a great time with it.

But there’s a catch (and it’s a big one). Before we get to it, though, first, some background…

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The MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Navy Eyeshadow X 6 Palette

October 12th, 2015 by Karen 40 Comments

mac enchanted eve eyes navy — The MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Eyes/Navy Eyeshadow X 6 Palette ($39.50), one of three Enchanted Eve Eyeshadow X6 palettes in the holiday collection

Henceforth, 2015 will be forever etched into my memory as “The Year MAC Did Bladerunner Cell Phone Meets Atari 2600 Packaging for Their Eyeshadow Palettes.”

mac enchanted eve eyes navy 1 — Mercury Alpha Corporation (M.A.C.) Digital Transponder or MAC Holiday 2015 Enchanted Eve Eyes/Navy Palette? You be the judge…

Gotta love the retrofuturistic vibe!

Buuut, as far as the eyeshadows themselves? Well, I was wondering…is it just me, or does it seem like some of the MAC holiday palettes have fallen short over the past few years? Like they just haven’t risen to the same level of quality as the singles in the permanent line?

I wore the Enchanted Eve Navy Eyeshadow X 6 Palette today ($39.50; limited edition and coming to the MAC website Oct. 18 and to MAC stores and counters Oct. 22) and spent what felt like an unusually long time building up the colors. The powders feel harder and rougher than the eyeshadow singles in the permanent line, and it leads to choppier application and just generally more difficulty blending.

mac enchanted eve eyes navy k — Wearing MAC Enchanted Eye Eyes/Navy on my lids and lower lash line; lips are MAC Pro Longwear Lip Pencil in Double-Time with MAC Lipstick in Creme D’Nude

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theBalm Holiday 2015 Collection First Impressions

September 30th, 2015 by Karen 13 Comments

I hope the holidays are hella balm, girl, because you know what!? YOU DA BALM.

You da balm dot com!

The balm…? Get it??

Alright, alright, I know. Weak word play…but it’s so much fun. 🙂

thebalm in the balm of your hand 1 — Yes, I’m actually holding theBalm In the Balm of Your Hand palette ($39.50) in the palm of my hand…

The holidays have officially begun over at theBalm. Their new holiday 2015 collection is available now, and it’s just two pieces — actually, two palettes. One of them is called “In theBalm of Your Hand Greatest Hits Vol. 1,” so you’ll literally be able to hold theBalm in the palm of your hand.

Both palettes are filled with some of the brand’s most popular products, so there aren’t any new colors here. One consists of powder and cream products for eyes, cheeks and lips, and the other contains a trio of powder highlighters.

thebalm in the balm of your hand 2 — theBalm In the Balm of Your Hand palette ($39.50)

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Tarte Fall 2015 Energy Noir

September 10th, 2015 by Karen 33 Comments

tarte energy noir palette — Tarte Energy Noir Clay Palette ($38)

“Energy Noir” = “Energy Night” or “Night Energy.” That’s the name of Tarte’s fall 2015 collection, which has been out for a while now. Thank you, high school French. Or, rather, merci beaucoup, high school French.

Geez…I could have sworn that “noir” meant “night.” Well, someone clearly wasn’t paying attention during vocab in high school French class… Guess who that someone was. 🙂

Energy Noir! You may have strolled by Tarte’s fall 2015 Energy Noir collection recently at Sephora. If it aroused your curiosity, but you’re wondering if it’s worth your time, here’s a closer look at three of the 12 pieces, including the $38 Energy Noir Clay Palette (thumbs up!). I’d even go so far as to call this eyeshadow and cheek palette one of my fall faves.

tarte fall 2015 park ave princess — Tarte Park Ave Princes Contour Palette Vol II ($38)

tarte fall 2015 lash primer — Tarte Opening Act Lash Primer ($22)

It’s kind of funny that I’m wearing something in this video review called Energy Noir, because when I filmed it — this was a couple weeks ago at the height of Baby Girl’s first trimester antics — I had absolutely NO energy at all, and as for energy at night? Forget about it. My mom called me one night at 7:15, and I was like, “I gotta go to bed now!”

Haha! It’s so true though.

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Too Faced Stardust by Vegas Nay

September 3rd, 2015 by Karen 11 Comments

Vegas, baby!

Famous last words. 🙂 But we’re not actually gonna get in the car and drive nine hours to Vegas, no! We’re gonna teleport and get there instantaneously with the new $45 Stardust by Vegas Nay kit from Too Faced and glam Instagram makeup artist mega star @vegas_nay, also known as Naomi Giannopoulos.

I don’t know if you follow her yet on Instagram, but you should! She does beautiful makeup, and I learn a lot from her feed in terms of getting ideas for doing big glamorous makeup. And that theme — big glamorous makeup — and the makeup she likes to do and feature, translates into the Stardust by Vegas Nay kit.

You get a ton of stuff with it for $45, including a palette of 12 powder eyeshadows in shimmer and matte shades.

You also get a deluxe-sized Better Than Sex Mascara, a Shadow Insurance Primer, a cute, little loose glitter pigment AND, because it’s helpful to get roadmaps sometimes, there are also these little cards with helpful pictorials, so you get steps to follow for six different looks. They’re very handy.
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Neat and New to Me: Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage Quad

August 30th, 2015 by Karen 14 Comments

Neat and New to Me

Unlike my Unsung Heroes series, which features permanent collection products I’ve known and loved a long time, the Neat and New to Me series showcases permanent collection products that slipped under my radar for a while, but then I discovered them! — and now I think they’re neat and new to me.

The girl crawled along the hot sand as the relentless Novato sun beat down on her. “Water…” she croaked into the dry air, pulling herself forward by her fingertips, “or chocolate… Either one.”

Then she saw it, something in the distance — no, not a shimmering, but something…matte?

What was it, she wondered, sitting up to get a better look.

She squinted and focussed on the distant object. “Is that a…mirage?”

It was!

A Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage. 🙂

–END–
Well, look at you, eagle eye! Yes, this is the same quad I wore in my last couple of makeup tutorials. It’s the Tom Ford Cocoa Mirage Eye Color Quad, and it’s…

Well, it’s redonkulously expensive (it’s $80).

I know! That’s redonkulous to the max, but please don’t start throwing rotten fruit at me, or if you do, please try to avoid my head, because I’m having a decent hair day, and my eyeshadow’s off the chain because, well, Cocoa Mirage.

There are no ifs ands or buts about it. Tom Ford is an expensive brand, and for the price of this quad you could probably buy a gold grill for your cat (shoot, maybe even one with diamonds), but hot damn! — if this isn’t THE BEST neutral matte eyeshadow quad I’ve ever worn, and yes, I’m stating that for the official makeup record.

At first, it seems hella basic and uninspired when you open it. There’s a matte warm beige, a matte neutral golden tan, a matte neutral dark chocolate brown and a warm, mid-toned reddish brown with extremely subtle shimmer. It’s also a very safe bet that you’ve seen these colors in some form or fashion before (I know I have), but the thing is, they’re executed so remarkably well here that I can’t find a single thing I don’t like about them. I think they’re the most perfect mattes to have ever graced my lids.
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