Palettes

Satiny Lids, Red Lips and Soft Black Cat Liner: A Friday Face of the Day With the NARS Dual Intensity Eyeshadow Palette

December 12th, 2014 by Karen 37 Comments

The sun is out there…

Somewhere…

It’s out there somewhere behind the oppressive soup of (now) light gray clouds over our little hill here in Novato, but at least it isn’t raining! 🙂 By no means am I hanging out on the deck in a pair of booty shorts and drinking a margarita or anything, but it looks like Stormageddon 2014 has at least temporarily paused.

Compared to yesterday’s monsoon, the current minor gloom is welcome. I also tried to inject a little more brightness into the vicinity with my makeup, a glowing neutral lid with soft black cat eyeliner and a bright red lip.

I started this look with the new NARSissist Dual-Intensity Eyeshadow Palette ($79, coming to NARS Boutiques and the NARS website January 1, 2015; on counters February 1)…and I apologize in advance if I blabber and ramble when I talk about it because it drives me wild (I’m also thinking that the lines on the pans are hypnotic).

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Clinique’s $36 The Nutcracker Suite Act II Palette Is Perfectly Purple

December 11th, 2014 by Karen 25 Comments

Clinique Nutcracker Suite Act II — Wearing the $36 Nutcracker Suite Act II Palette on my eyes and cheeks, along with the Chubby Stick Baby Tint in Flowering Freesia and Blended Face Powder in Snowflake Dreams, all from Act II of Clinique’s The Nutcracker Suite holiday collection

Part deux of Clinique’s holiday collection, The Nutcracker Suite, puts the spotlight on soft, romantic colors… And purple!

The overall collection is split into two parts, with the first part, Act I, being pumped up about pink, and the second part, Act II, being passionate about purple.

In Act II, purple eyes and a sheer purple lip pair with pretty pink cheeks, and for the eyes, there’s The Nutcracker Suite Act II Eye and Cheek Palette ($36).

The Nutcracker Suite Act II Eye and Cheek Palette ($36)

Clinique The Nutcracker Suite Act II Palette — The Nutcracker Suite Act II Palette ($36)

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The $59.50 Make Up For Ever Studio Case Looks Like Something for Pros, But It Has a Lot of Help for Beginners Inside

December 4th, 2014 by Karen 20 Comments

The intimidation factor with Make Up For Ever’s Studio Case ($59.50) is high…

If I were unable to tell the difference between a domed brush and a shader brush, or the words “lid” and “crease” made me immediately think of mason jars and those ubiquitous pressed khaki pants worn by tech dudes, I may have just cruised right by the sleek black Studio Case and thought, “That is some scary sh*t.”

But not “scary” as in The Taking of Deborah Logan, which scared the living bejeezus out of me, but scary as in daunting as all hell — as in, you can only be allowed in its presence if you wear a brush belt around your hips at work.

The question is, does one require an advanced certificate from the Tabs the Cat School of Makeup Artistry (est. 2007) to beat major face with this kit?

No, I don’t think so… Not after seeing it up close.

In fact, the products in the case are surprisingly user-friendly, thanks, in part, to the way MUFE organized the 12 shadows (you can also pop the palette out of the case if you want).

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The Two New Limited Edition Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Kaleidoscope Palettes Deliver Fun, Form and Function at an Extravagant Price

December 4th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

The new limited edition Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Kaleidoscopes Palettes

Layers. They’re not just for onions, cakes and Godfather movies anymore. (No kidding! It took me years to figure out what was really going on with the Tattaglias and Barzinis.)

Layers are also for makeup — which are sometimes on your face, and sometimes in the construction of your palettes, like what Le Metier de Beaute does with their signature stacked Kaleidoscope pans.

So fun! I love how they float in and out of their compacts like silent kitty cat paws/covert makeup ninjas…

The brand’s two latest layered limited edition Kaleidoscope holiday palettes are a trip. For warm, smoldering gold, copper, pink and/or blue eyes and shiny pink and red lips, there’s the Obsidian Odyssey Lip and Cheek Kaleidoscope Palette ($125) and Obsidian Odyssey Eye Shadow Kaleidoscope Palette ($95).

Le Metier de Beaute Obsidian Odyssey Eye Shadow Kaleidoscope — Wearing the Obsidian Odyssey Eye Shadow Kaleidoscope Palette on my eyes…

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Tantalizing Trios Await! With the Transformative bareMinerals Ready Convertible Eyeshadow Palette, You Can Take It With You

November 25th, 2014 by Karen 10 Comments

This new $39 Ready Convertible Eyeshadow Palette by bareminerals is a lot like the last Transformers movie…except without the fast-twitch camera cuts, ear-splitting explosions and, ya know, robots.

OK, so now that I’ve thought about it more…it’s actually nothing at all like the last Transformers movie.

But it is like the slogan. 🙂 “More than meets the eye.”

With 12 full-size shimmery eyeshadows that you can pop in and out, this holiday set is something of a quick-change artist. The idea is to place three colors into the smaller mini-palette in the middle of the bigger palette, which you can then slide out and take along with you — you know, for touchups, booty calls, impromptu acts of makeup artistry in airport bathrooms, etc.

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Instead of Pulling a Rabbit Out of a Hat, The Magic Act Eye and Cheek Palette by bareMinerals Creates Compliments Out of Thin Air

November 24th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Huzzah! Good news, friend! As it turns out, you will not have to promise your first born child, sell your soul or slice your arm open and drip blood into a boiling cauldron in order to experience The Magic Act ($39), the new holiday neutral eye and cheek palette by bareMinerals.

Seriously, thank goodness, because the last thing I want to do on a Monday afternoon is barter with a warlock. Generally, I’m much better equipped for things related to the dark arts later in the week…like around Wednesday or Thursday, after I’ve warmed up. 🙂

The Magic Act comes with six powder eyeshadows (three mattes and three shimmers), three blushes (two satins and a shimmer) and a highlighter, all in neutral shades, and with pigment levels that range from sheer to medium.

It’s weird, but whenever I wear this palette, I usually wear it with a bright lip and sometimes a bold liner, and when I do, someone will invariably ask about my lids or cheeks…even though those are the parts of my look that aren’t bold or flashy.

The palette’s neutral browns, beiges, taupes, pinks and peaches are mysteriously attention-getting…

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The Sonia Kashuk Holiday 2014 Collection Proves It’s the Golden Age of Luxurious, Affordable Makeup

November 19th, 2014 by Karen 16 Comments

Sonia Kashuk’s Art Deco-inspired holiday 2014 collection might give you ideas…

…ideas like, “Whee! Look at me! I’m a flapper in The Great Gatsby, and I’m doing the Charleston!” Then you start dancing around your office, but you pull an inner thigh muscle when you kick a little higher than you should have, and from that day forward, you rue the day you danced the Charleston in your office without properly stretching beforehand.

The Sonia Kashuk Eye Palette in Deco Starlet ($19.99)

Just an FYI! 🙂

Sonia’s latest limited edition collection does make me want to kick up my heels, it’s true. The seven pieces look totally expensive, but all but one of them are less than $20 each.

Sonia Kashuk Nude Lip Palette in Jazzed Up Nudes — The Nude Lip Palette in Jazzed Up Nudes ($19.99)

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Is Kat Von D’s Star Studded Eyeshadow Book a Beauty Bestseller?

November 18th, 2014 by Karen 21 Comments

Kat Von D Star Studded Eyeshadow Book — Wearing colors from Kat Von D’s new limited edition Star Studded Eyeshadow Book ($55) on my eyes

The first time I saw Kat Von D’s new $55 Star Studded Eyeshadow Book, all cloaked in black with that star pattern on the outside, I thought, “Ooh! It looks like something Slash would wear on his wedding day.”

Imagine my surprise when I opened it and found 24 uber-organized eyeshadows grouped into efficient color-coordinated quads.

I dunno… Chaos just strikes me as more rock ‘n’ roll, ya know?

Each of the four-color subsections includes a base, lid, crease and accent shade, like something you might find over at a more formal, buttoned-up line like Trish McEvoy, but don’t let that fool you — these shadows still have major rawr.

There’s also a helluva lot more glitter. 🙂

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