Product Reviews

MAC Is Serving Juicy Colors in Every Sip of Summer With the MAC All About Orange Nail Lacquers

June 13th, 2013 by Karen 11 Comments

MAC All About Orange Nail Polish Swatches — With these five nail lacquers, it’s All About Orange. The five nail lacquers from MAC’s All About Orange collection ($16 each)

Juicy orange summer nails — oh, yeah!

Err, let’s make that mostly orange, because technically, one of these five nail polishes from the MAC All About Orange collection is more of a pink, and its name sounds like a karate spirit shout.

KIAI!!

Or Ke Ai, which is how MAC spells it here.

I like to say it loud and do karate chops in the air for emphasis…

KE-AI!!

So the collection is actually mostly about orange (MAC Mostly About Orange?), but that doesn’t sound as sweet. 🙂

The five $16 quintessentially summer polishes in the release ripened last week (they’re available now). The collection features four bright, juicy Creamsicle-like nail shades and one shimmery pale pink called.

KE-AI!!

Chop, chop, chop…

I think they’re a bumper crop save one thing. I wish some of them were a little easier to work with, but then I’m coming off a major Chanel Starlet high…

Starlet is one of the smoothest polishes I’ve worn in a while. By contrast, a few of these All About Orange colors are making me grind my teeth. I can them to look the way I want them to, but it takes some work.

MAC Colour Punch — Three coats of Colour Punch, a yellowish orange with a Cream finish

Super cute Colour Punch is awfully thick and surprisingly streaky. I have to remember to remove most of the polish from the brush before applying, and then paint s l o w l y, watching my strokes.

I think it looks fine with two coats but better with three.

MAC Sweet Pop — Two coats of Sweet Pop, a peach with a Cream finish

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If You Like Red, Plum and Brown Nails, Swatch Out for Chanel Paparazzi Le Vernis Nail Colour

June 13th, 2013 by Karen 11 Comments

Chanel Paparazzi Nail Polish — Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Paparazzi, $27

The closest I’ve ever come to the end of a paparazzo’s lens was standing next to Tabs on the red carpet.

Second closest time was today, via Chanel’s $27 Paparazzi plum nail polish concoction.

That’s one way I definitely don’t envy Tabs — having to deal with the paparazzi so much — since they always seem to appear at the most inopportune moments.

With my luck, every pic they snapped would be of me yawning, sneezing or attempting to stealthily extract my underwear from my bum…

No thank you!

I like Chanel’s Paparazzi much better than the ones that chase Tabs.

Maybe not as much as I like Starlet, but that’s probably because of how close we are to summer, and Starlet’s coral just seems more ripe and ready for sandals and summer dresses to me (Calgon, take me to the beach!).

Just like how Starlet spreads out across each nail after it’s applied, Paparazzi does the same thing. Neither shade exhibits noticeable streaking.

One thing I do have to watch when I wear Paprazzi is my timing. You have to be in the right place at the right time with this polish.

Chanel Paparazzi Swatch — Two coats of Paparazzi…

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Chanel’s New Leading Lady Is a Smooth Starlet: Take the Stage With Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Starlet This Summer

June 12th, 2013 by Karen 11 Comments

Chanel Starlet Nail Polish — Now playing on Chanel counters and online, the new $27 limited edition Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Starlet, from the Avant-Premiere collection

This leading lady is worthy of a summer tentpole film and a handful of Oscar nominations. Maybe even a sleeper hit that takes Sundance by storm, or a blockbuster rom-com opposite a foppish Brit boy with floppy hair and nice arms. 🙂

This Starlet has some serious stage presence. Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Starlet has that certain something I like, that “it” factor that pushes it ahead of so many sweet and summery coral ingenues.

Admittedly, I rarely meet a coral I don’t love or like, and Starlet is no exception. But it differs from most coral shades in that it also leans pink, depending on the light, to showcase more of its rich pink salmon side in the shade and a cherry blossom pink in full sun. It also has subtle opalescent shimmer, which elevates its production value from indie film to Hollywood big budget.

I was so excited to try Starlet the day I brought it home that I actually painted my toes with it in the middle of the night in almost pitch-black darkness before settling down to watch one of our generation’s most esteemed films, Step Brothers (“This is a house of learn-ed doctors”), and passing out on the couch.

Not really being able to see what I was doing because I didn’t want to turn on the lights, I expected to have to re-paint my toes the following morning.

Nope. Turns out I didn’t have to. To my surprise, my toes looked nearly perfect, because Starlet is smooove…

You could be painting your toes with one eye half open in the dark, and there’s a decent chance your pedi would turn out alright. 🙂

Chanel Starlet Swatch — Starlet, you are smooth! I only need two coats for full opacity.

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There’s Always Room For Jell-O And Another Marvelously Moisturizing Lip Gloss: These Clarins Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Gels Even Look Like Jell-O

June 11th, 2013 by Karen 16 Comments

Clarins Instant Smooth Lip Gel Crystal Pink — Is that J-E-L-L-O? Nope, it’s Clarins Instant Smooth Lip Gel in Crystal Pink ($22)

My lower lip quivered like Jell-O jiggling on a school lunch tray the first time I touched one of these new $22 Clarins Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Gels.

That’s because it promised moisture — and lots of it — something my perpetually parched lips always crave.

Clarins Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Gel Crystal Plum Pink — Crystal Plum (darker tube) and Crystal Pink

Shiny like a lip gloss and moisturizing like a balm, Crystal Pink and Crystal Plum make me look like I’ve been kissing Jell-O, or strawberry and raspberry jelly, which is kind of weird but also cool.

Good jelly, too. None of that shiny slime that washes up on shore, or like when you take out a bowl of cold, fatty gravy from the fridge and it wiggles like The Blob when you move it back and forth.

Ewww…

Nope, not like that.

Just a translucent veil of wet color, almost like I’m holding a piece of shiny red or purple cellophane up to my lips.

Clarins Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Gel Crystal Plum Pink Swatches — Crystal Pink on the left and Crystal Plum on the right

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Among the Many Splendours of the Sun-Kissed Clarins Splendours Summer Bronzing Compact, Fooling Your Mom Into Thinking You’ve Lost Weight

June 11th, 2013 by Karen 16 Comments

Introducing the $35 Clarins Splendours Summer Bronzing Compact — not to be confused with Splenda, the artificial sweetener, despite the fact that the faux tan I get from it looks completely real, and that is pretty sweet. 🙂

Can’t say whether it actually tastes sweet, though…but I’m guessing, probably not.

When I used it last weekend to contour my cheeks, my mom, who I hadn’t seen in a few weeks, asked if I’d been eating enough and if I’d lost weight.

Yes, Mom, I have been eating enough, and no, I haven’t lost weight (said the girl who just had two slices of leftover birthday cake today after lunch).

It must be Splendours’ fault. A matte, medium-dark peachy golden brown, it resides on the darker side of the powder bronzing spectrum. Brushing it beneath my cheekbones sculpts them into sharp wedges of RuPaul/Tyra-style cheddar cheese.

Perfect for when I’m air quoting and don’t want my long, E.T.-like fingers (E.T. phone home!) to be distracting…

Just stare at mah cheeks, man!!

Clarins Splendours Summer Bronzing Compact K air quotes — “Air quotes”

Among the many splendors of Splendours, the 0.7-ounce pan is HUGE! It’s a tabby toe-size bigger than Guerlain’s 0.67-ounce pan of Terra Nerolia Bronzer ($69), which till now had been my default bronzer for the past two months.

That reminds me, I keep meaning to mention that Splendours might be a good alternative to paying almost 70 bones for a bronzer from Guerlain, since the colors are quite similar.

You might even like the Clarins one more, especially if you aren’t wild about tiare flower scents. I find Terra Nerolia’s fragrance intoxicating, albeit heavy.

Color-wise, Splendours, which has a faint tea rose scent, is slightly darker and less golden.

If I were also being super nitpicky, I think Terra Nerolia’s grains look and feel a tad finer, but really, unless you’re bucking for a spot in the bronzer edition of Ultimate Makeup Hoarders, I don’t think that’s reason enough to justify the difference in price.

Clarins Splendours Summer Bronzing Compact Swatch — Swatches from the left: Peach center of Splendours, outer section of Splendours, both the peach and tan mixed together (yup, from Splendours) and a comparison swatch from Guerlain’s Terra Nerolia Bronzer

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Voted Most Likely To Steal Your Heart This Summer: The Gold, Chocolate Brown and Plum Shades in the Clarins Splendours Colour Quartet & Eye Liner Palette

June 10th, 2013 by Karen 21 Comments

WARNING: Do not wear the new Clarins Splendours Colour Quartet & Eye Liner Palette ($42) unless you plan to kick all other gold summer eye palettes to the curb.

Put another way, if this were makeup high school, it’s the palette that would have been voted “Most Likely To Be Mistaken for Cookies” in the yearbook.

And we all know how awesome cookies are.

Remember those things?

Wait — no, not cookies. I mean those yearbook things where the seniors cast a bunch of votes for “Most Likely To…”

I wasn’t really one of those kids, but I was voted “Too Sexy for This Band” by my compatriots in the musical arts (BAND GEEKS!). 🙂 And to this day I have no idea whether they were being serious or sarcastic…

Still, I’m surprised it wasn’t “Most Likely to Become a Cat Lady.” You feel me?

Yep, hindsight’s 20/20.

Like one of those popular girls who got nominated for everything (Best Hair, Most Likely to Succeed, Biggest Flirt, Best Pronunciation in Spanish Class), the categories in which this palette would dominate are…

Most Likely To Flatter Warm-Toned Tans
Most Likely To Dance From Dawn Till Dusk With a Minimum of Creasing and Fading
Most Likely To Be Mistaken for a Dior Quint
Most Likely To Mix It Up (as in mixing colors to create your own custom shades, which I’ve been doing a lot with this palette and really liking my results)
Most Likely To Be the Palette That Melts Your Makeup-Loving Heart This Summer

Inside are four shimmery powder shadows — three golden shades (a rose gold, copper gold and a pale gold) and a plummy chocolate brown — and a creamy plum liner, all of which work together as well as root beer and vanilla ice cream.

Clarins Splendours Colour Quartet Eye liner Palette Swatches — Swatches from the left: the powder eyeshadows in pale gold, pinkish gold, coppery gold and chocolate brown; and the cream liner in plum

For day, go casual with a single wash of color over your lids (or mix two of the shadows together), and line your lash lines with the soft, smudgy liner.

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Making Waves This Summer: AG Hair Cosmetics Texture Spray Tousles Tresses and Brings Out the Beach Babe Waves I Crave

June 7th, 2013 by Karen 15 Comments

Dear AG Hair Cosmetics Texture Spray,

Hi. You probably don’t know me, but I know you.

Wait — that made me sound like a stalker, didn’t it?

Sorry! 🙂 I assure you, I am not a stalker. I mean, I love you, and I’ve been thinking about you all week long, but I am not a stalker.

Really.

I just wanted to drop you a line to say, “thanks.”

Thanks to you, my hair’s been swell, and I really appreciate it.

We’re a regular power couple, you and I. With you by my side, my mane’s been caught up in a tide of tousled, beachy waves, curling, coiling and cresting ever-so awesomely.

Instead of feeling (and looking) like a land-locked lass who toils in front of a computer screen all day, I feel (and look) like a total surfer girl. Carefree with curls.

Like I said, thanks. You’re the best.

Sincerely,

Karen

Um…this stuff’s pretty great.

A lightweight, medium-hold aerosol styling spray designed for all hair types, it coaxes out waves, increases volume and shine, fights frizz and makes color last longer by protecting your hair from UVA and UVB rays.

Just spray on dry hair and scrunch. That’s it.

Scrunch, scrunch, scrunch…

I’ve tried a bunch of different styling sprays over the years to get that tousled, beachy hair I like, and this one’s cream of the crop.

A lot of these sprays leave me with Edward Scissorhands hair, but not this one. With this one I get stylish runway messy.

The lightweight spray doesn’t weigh down my hair, either. It leaves it soft with a beachy clean scent, which I like.

Other than the rather high $24 price, the biggest downside I see is how quickly I’ll go through the bottle. I’m noticing it already. I probably don’t need to use as much as I do, but I’m a product of the hair bear 1980s, when one would often go through an entire can of Aqua Net in a single day.

Not kidding.

I have to consciously control my trigger finger, using short, controlled bursts; otherwise, I’m apt to envelop myself in a cloud the size of Texas.

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How Do You Make an Orange Crush? Just Squeeze Seven MAC All About Orange Lipsticks

June 6th, 2013 by Karen 33 Comments

Wearing MAC Flamingo Lipstick, a bright milky coral with a Lustre finish ($15), one of seven MAC Lipsticks in the new All About Orange collection

Oh, Tivo… You’ve been so good to me lately.

It was really, really sweet of you to record six hours of The Millionaire Matchmaker… You know how much I enjoy that show (oh, hells yeah!). 🙂

But wait — what’s this? You also recorded Blue Crush, one of my favorite chick flicks of all time?

Aww!! And you even did it without my asking?

How did you know I’ve been missing Hawaii something fierce this week and that I needed something good to watch while swatching the seven $15 lippies in the MAC All About Orange collection (available now at MAC counters, stores and online)?

MAC All About Orange Lipsticks from the left: Razzledazzler, Sweet & Sour, Tangerine Dream, Flamingo, Sushi Kiss, Tart & Trendy, Neon Orange — From the left: Razzledazzler, Sweet & Sour, Tangerine Dream, Flamingo, Sushi Kiss, Tart & Trendy, Neon Orange

You know me so well…

You gave me three more reasons to love the living room — an orchard of orange lipsticks that tend to well with warm skin tones, a surf movie with spectacular views of Oahu and a napping tabby cat.

I feel…like one of the characters from Blue Crush, maybe a missing member of the surf girl crew, the one obsessed with orange lipsticks and surfing.

“Flamingo Lipstick rips, man. Neon Orange? Charge it, charge it, CHARGE IT!”

I would totally paddle out for tubes of Razzledazzler, Sweet & Sour, Tart & Trendy and Sushi Kiss, but Tangerine Dream? Probably not.

Whenever I wear that one, I look like I’ve been worked over by big waves.

MAC All About Orange Lipstick Swatches — From the left: Razzledazzler, Sweet & Sour, Tangerine Dream, Flamingo, Sushi Kiss, Tart & Trendy and Neon Orange

MAC Tart & Trendy — Tart & Trendy, a bright, neutral-toned orange cream with a Lustre finish

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