Palettes

Now Boarding Rows Light, Medium and Dark: Jet-Setters of All Skin Tones Might Like Benefit’s New She’s So Jetset Holiday Makeup Kit

October 3rd, 2012 by Karen 12 Comments

Paris, London, New York, Novato…

Oh, that last one? Yeah, Novato, population 49,000, give or take. It’s quickly becoming one of the top destinations for beauty jet-setters.

No kidding, it’s a HUGE draw. Some people still don’t know this about Novato, but it has a Target, a Costco, a Bath & Body Works and even a Sephora, all in the same strip mall.

It’s really quite impressive to behold. 🙂

All kidding aside, even if your home base is out in the sticks like mine, you can still live the life of a jet-setter with the new $36 Benefit She’s So Jetset holiday kit.

Up here in my office, surrounded by 200-year-old oak trees and roving gangs of big-@ss turkeys, I feel like a first-class passenger on my way to a stylish beauty destination when I put on the pieces in this limited edition, travel-friendly kit.

Benefit filled it with neutral colors to suit a wide range of skin tones. It comes with four shimmery shadows, a satiny peach First-Class Face powder, a sample-sized tube of They’re Real mascara (a pretty good lash thickener) and a creamy nude-ish pink Life on the A List gloss.

In more detail…

The Eyeshadow Palette: I like all four of these shimmery, shiny shades, although they’re on the borderline between just right and a little too frosty for me (just something to think about if you’re worried about fine lines). I like that Benefit included colors here that could work well for skin tones from light to medium and dark, and even though I detect a small amount of fallout with these, it’s not enough to get on my nerves.
First-Class Face Powder and Brush: Okay, so the brush is kinda silly; it hardly picks up any product at all, but I like the powder, which gives my skin a soft, peachy glow…that smells really good! Like roses!
They’re Real Mascara: As long as I only apply one layer, I’m a big fan of They’re Real. If I apply any more than that, my lashes start getting clumpy and crunchy.
Life on the A-List Gloss: This super sheer, non-sticky milky pink looks kinda light on my pigmented lips, but I still think it’s great. You can’t go wrong with a lightly tinted, easy-to-wear nude gloss.

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I’ve Got Bon Bons on My Eyes, But It’s Not a Problem: The Perfectly Priced Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons Kit Is Sweet on Neutral Looks and Purple Smokey Eyes

October 3rd, 2012 by Karen 37 Comments

My sweet tooth is absolutely thrilled with all the action it’s seen lately!

What started innocently enough with a batch of Toll House cookies but then rapidly progressed to a box of custom made MBB cupcakes has mutated, yet again, into makeup. My maniacal sweet tooth is so…maniacal that it can no longer tell the difference between real bonbons and the new Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons eye palette ($42).

If I don’t get a handle on this soon, I’m either going to end up in the emergency room with a doctor asking me, “So why were you eating makeup?” or replace my entire wardrobe with stretchy pants.

Blast you, Too Faced!

Scrumptiously sweet, this indulgent holiday kit of 12 powder eyeshadows, one full-size Lashgasm Mascara and one sample-sized tube of Candlelight Shadow Insurance is not just low-cal (no cal?). It’s also convenient as heck. It gives you the option of going subtle with neutrals like brown, beige and peach, or going buck wild with purple, pink and black smokey sass.

More often now that it’s fall, I’ve been getting the urge to ~~eat my feelings~~ wear purple smokey looks, and a lot of the time when it happens, I reach for Bon Bons.

Here, let me give you the recipe. 🙂

Just pat Candlelight primer all over your lids, sprinkle one (or two or three) of Bon Bon’s yummy chocolate or caramel browns on your lids and in the crease, add a dash of purple directly on top of your neutrals and a dollop of mascara on your upper and lower lashes.

Chill before serving…

Okay, not really. It’s ready to go right there! — and the look lasts all day long with barely any fading or creasing.

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A Fall Vice to Entice Those Who Long for New Hues and Love a Good Price: The Urban Decay Vice Palette

September 17th, 2012 by Karen 30 Comments

urban decay vice palette review — Wearing the Urban Decay Vice Palette eyeshadows in Nevermind, Desperation and Unhinged on my eyes

Maybe the cray amounts of overtime Tabs has had me working lately and the 20+ hours of Friday Night Lights I’ve watched since last Friday are slowly but surely frying my brain, because choosing which eyeshadow colors I want to wear when I do my makeup has been way tougher than usual.

It’s like, I see the pans sitting in front of me as one big, nebulous blob. Does this green go with that one? Should I wear bronze or brown?

Honestly, right now, I have no idea…

Coming to the rescue, ironically with 20 more shades? — the new Urban Decay Vice Palette ($59 and available now online at urbandecay.com).

I can’t remember the last time Urban Decay released a palette with so many new colors! All 20 of them have never before seen the light of day (although a few of them do resemble existing colors).

And that’s not even my favorite part.

Somehow, the shades in the Vice palette, which is packed with neutrals and sprinkled with brights, all go together. Seriously, I feel like I can pair any two of them on my lids, pop a third shade along my lower lash line and KAPOW! — instant eye game that requires very little brain power.

Not that I’m in my right mind right now…but nothing here seems out of place.

You could start with one of the lighter colors all over your lids, add one of the darker shades in the outer corners of your eyes, and define your lower lash lines by lining with one of the bright or neutral shades.

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Urban Decay Vice Palette Swatches and Product Pics

September 14th, 2012 by Karen 51 Comments

Urban Decay Vice Palette

Vices. I’ve got a few. Shoes, sweets, stockpiling limited edition Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes… 🙂

The new Urban Decay Vice Palette ($59) sashays onto beauty counters and urbandecay.com this fall. Inside you’ll find 20 brand-spankin’ new shades, which Urban Decay whipped up special for the kit.

Check out the swatches and pics below, and let me know what you think.

Urban Decay Vice Palette

Urban Decay Vice Palette 1

Urban Decay Vice Palette 2
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MAC Pro Lip Palettes in Modern Browns and Editorial Oranges: Face Pics

August 15th, 2012 by Karen 44 Comments

mac pro lip palette editorial oranges

Last batch of today’s MAC swatch fest! 🙂

Face pics of the new Pro Lip Palettes in 6 Editorial Oranges and 6 Modern Browns ($40 US, $47.50 CDN), two of the five Pro Lip Palettes gliding into MAC Pro stores and maccosmetics.com in North America August 23, and internationally next month.

MAC Modern Browns Editorial Oranges Pro Lip Palette 6
Pro Lip Palettes in 6 Modern Browns (left) and 6 Editorial Oranges (right)

6 Editorial Oranges

mac pro lip palette editorial oranges so chaud
So Chaude, an intense reddish orange (matte)

mac pro lip palette editorial oranges crosswires
Cross Wires, a clean pinky orange (cremesheen)

mac pro lip palette editorial oranges morange
Morange, a loudmouth orange (amplified creme)
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MAC Pro Lip Palettes Pics and Swatches

August 15th, 2012 by Karen 15 Comments

mac pro lip palette editorial oranges

Pics and swatches of two of the five new MAC Pro Lip Palettes ($40 each US, $47.50 CDN). These cuties strut into MAC Pro stores and maccosmetics.com in North America August 23, and internationally next month.

MAC Modern Browns Editorial Oranges Pro Lip Palette 6
Pro Lip Palettes in 6 Modern Browns (left) and 6 Editorial Oranges (right)

MAC Pro Lip Palette 6 Editorial Oranges
6 Editorial Oranges
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The Givenchy Le Prisme Eye Quad Color & Shine for Metallic Eyes in Acoustic Harmony #80, and Conversations With My Inner Drag Queen About Glitter

August 10th, 2012 by Karen 19 Comments

givenchy acoustic harmony

Between the hypnotic packaging sparkling like a shimmery pair of black snakeskin and patent leather heels, the glittery catchlights and the sheer, high-shine finish of its four powder shadows, Givenchy’s Le Prisme Eye Quad Color & Shine for Metallic Eyes in Acoustic Harmony #80 ($58) is like a makeup oasis glistening in a desert flush with fall smokey eyes.

givenchy acoustic harmony product shot
Outside of the packaging

No. 80 is the new quad in Givenchy’s Acoustic Colors collection for autumn/winter 2012, and man! — it’s sparkly.

So sparkly that it even gave my inner drag queen reason to pause…

KAREN’S INNER DRAG QUEEN: “Baby, I dunno if we can do this.”

KAREN: “Yeah, that is a lot of glitter, but check out how sheer the shadows are. They’re really only lightly tinted but have a shiny finish and gobs of glitter.

“I bet if we apply one all over our lids with a flat eyeshadow brush like the MAC 239, it would look really cool. We’d get a wash of sheer pigment, a shiny finish and sparkle from the glitter on top.

“Trust me — we can make it look classy.”

KAREN’S INNER DRAG QUEEN: “Classy with a ‘c’ or klassy with a ‘k’?”

KAREN: “Dude, classy with a ‘c’! It’ll look like twinkling lights, and because the flecks of glitter are pretty big, I bet we’ll be able to see ’em from a few feet away.

“We’ll just have to make sure we don’t go overboard with the rest of our eye look, which we can do by keeping the liner simple and skipping the false lashes.”

KAREN’S INNER DRAG QUEEN: “B*tch, you know the last time I toned anything down was never. Does not compute!”

KAREN: “Okay, well, to turn it up instead, we can press the shadow directly on our lids. That should intensify the pigment even more, KAPOW! We’ll have to start with a layer of primer to get more of that glitter to latch on to our skin… Hey, I thought you were nervous about wearing so much glitter?”

KAREN’S INNER DRAG QUEEN: “Last time I checked I was the one who held the diva card in this relationship, which means I can change my mind whenever I want. 🙂

[Snaps three times in a Z.]

“Now go about your business so I can practice lip-synching It’s Raining Men.”

As I was saying, this is one of those products where you really have to love glitter.

Good thing I do (I go through phases) because the stuff gets everywhere!

givenchy acoustic harmony

givenchy acoustic harmony
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The Make Up For Ever Black Tango Palette Will Let You Have This Dance, But Only If You Make It Quick

August 9th, 2012 by Karen 29 Comments

make up for ever black tango palette

Dear Roger Ebert,

First of all, can I just say — I love you, man! I’ve been reading your movie reviews FOR EVER, and all this time, after all these years, you still find new ways to get me excited about movies.

With your reviews, I never feel like I’m reading a boring laundry list or some critic’s attempt to dazzle me with their erudite vocabulary. You’re always passionate, honest and open-minded, which is amazing to me after the thousands of movies you’ve seen.

Mr. Ebert, you’re one of my writing heroes.

Sometimes, just for fun, I try to write my own movie reviews, and when I do they usually go a little something like this:

“Saw Fool’s Gold last night. Was surprised it wasn’t completely dumb.”

As you can see, I lack your way with words, I think because of how easily I get distracted…

OOH! — look at that shiny bauble! 🙂

I mean, I try to focus on the important things, like the dialogue, pacing and character development (and male shirtless-ness), but I usually end up pondering things like how the secret treasure in Fool’s Gold looked so much like the new Make Up For Ever Black Tango palette ($45).

make up for ever black tango fall 2012 open
Black Tango Palette

In the unlikely event that you find long-wearing waterproof cream eyeshadows as intriguing as I do, you might want to check out this particular fall palette, which includes four new limited-edition shades of Make Up For Ever’s popular Aqua Creams.

Along with three shimmery gem-like colors — an amethyst, emerald and a sapphire — that could have come from a Medieval queen’s jewel-encrusted scepter, the palette also features a shimmery ivory for highlighting, and each of the shadows comes in its own self-contained pot (don’t forget to close the lids tightly so they won’t dry out).

For some reason, these shadows set in a flash, quicker than the other Aqua Creams I’ve worn in the past — something I figured out while watching Fool’s Gold the other night.

make up for ever black tango palette visual

I wanted to recreate (or come close to) the killer purple smokey eye in the Black Tango promotional picture using just the colors in the palette, but for the life of me, I couldn’t do it. The shadows dried so unbelievably quickly that I couldn’t effectively blend the shades.

make up for ever black tango swatches
Swatches from the left: Black Tango Palette Aqua Creams in Purple, Green, Blue and Ivory; Aqua Rouge in #8 Red, #1 Nude Beige and clear gloss; Aqua Brow in #25 Ash unblended and blended

make up for ever black tango palette
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