Product Reviews

Yearning for a Retro Look in a Rush? The Tremendously Tinted EstÃ©e Lauder Mad Men Collection See Thru Blush in Light Show Sweeps Cheeks with One-Coat Color

March 11th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

Estee Lauder Mad Men Collection See Thru Blush in Light Show — That’s the new EstÃ©e Lauder Mad Men Collection See Thru Blush in Light Show ($50) on my cheeks, one of three pieces in the Mad Men Collection, available now at counters and online

One look at the words, “See Thru,” on the box, and I assumed I’d need a heavy hand and lots o’layering to get the new budget-breaking $50 EstÃ©e Lauder Mad Men Collection See Thru Blush in Light Show to show up on my NC42 skin, but like Don Draper, this blush is full of surprises.

And it’s just in time! — along with the other two pieces in the limited edition Mad Men Collection — for the show’s sixth season, which premiers on AMC April 7.

Hmm… Do you recall last year’s two-piece Mad Men Collection? I wonder if these releases will be an annual thing like Bronze Goddess. If so, that has to please the partners at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce… 🙂

This year/season, EstÃ©e Lauder summoned a late ’60s makeup look with a pigmented, pink powder blush with laid-back shimmer that lays down loads of color with a single swipe.

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Whether You’re Standing in Front of a Mirror or in Front of a Camera Lens, the Six Neutral Shades in the Smashbox Softbox II Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette Just Click

March 11th, 2013 by Karen 26 Comments

Wearing the new Smashbox Softbox II Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette ($39) on my eyes

There I stood, surrounded by piles of jeans, my feet planted shoulder-width apart, as I looked at myself in the three-way mirror of my tiny dressing room doing squats, while the stylist helping me watched from the doorway.

Two, three, four…

I paused, noting 1) the status of my muffin top in the pair of stretchy skinnies I’d just shimmied into, and 2) how the neutrals from new Smashbox Softbox II Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette were holding up (I’d already been wearing them for six hours, and still no signs of creasing or fading, yay!).

“I dunno…” I said, thinking about the jeans. “I feel a lot of muffin going on.”

“Keep going,” the stylist replied, referring to the squats. “Trust me. These start really tight, but they’ll stretch. They’ll be perfect in 10 minutes.”

Five, six, seven…

“The squats speed things along.”

Halfway through my eighth rep, I silently thanked the makeup gods for creating the Photo Op Palette.

Looking for a new pair of jeans is not one of my favorite tasks in the world. I’ll go so far as to say that it’s almost as stressful as shopping for a new swimsuit (first world problems, I know), but it’s always easier when I’m wearing eye makeup that helps me feel pretty.

Smashbox Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette Softbox II small — Smashbox Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette Softbox II

Smashbox Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette Softbox II

Which this palette does. 🙂

Smashbox Softbox II Photo Op Eye Shadow Palette swatches from the left: Russet, Truffle, Bare, Juniper, Sandstone and Sumatra

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Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder Is Helping Faces Be Light Hearted

March 8th, 2013 by Karen 19 Comments

Like ~~lightning~~ lighting in a bottle.

Sunsets inspire the new highlighting powder from Too Faced, the $32 Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder.

To both set your makeup and give a golden pink/late afternoon glow to your skin, just swirl your brush in the jar of multicolored powder hearts, and apply all over your face.

GURL, you don’t have to tell me about the power of lighting. When I think of how many times my friend Jen and I went clubbing and ended up talking to a dude who looked like a Baldwin in the dim club lighting, but then when the lights came up, we were like, “WHOA?!”

It’s that kind of shared trauma that bonds girlfriends for life. 🙂

Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder 2 — Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder

Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder 3 — Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder

Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder 4 — Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder

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Charming Their Way Into Makeup Bags and Hearts, the New Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Glossy Stains Deliver an Yves Saint Laurent Look at a Drugstore Price

March 8th, 2013 by Karen 8 Comments

Why do I find little dangling charms so irresistible? Charms on just about anything, like phones, bracelets, the ends of pens and pencils, tubes of Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Glossy Stain…

Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Glossy Stains Red and Hot Pink — The Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Glossy Stains in Red and Hot Pink

Charmed, I’m sure. 🙂

Maybe it’s the way they sparkle when I wiggle them around. It triggers some kind of primitive cave girl thing… Whatever it is, those silvery high-heel charms are charming the heck out of me.

And speaking of charming, that’s actually their schtick — except with regard to pants, as in “charming the pants off you.” These two new pigmented, $9.95 gloss/stain hybrids in Red and Hot Pink, like the Physicians Formula Sexy Booster Sexy Glow Blush in Rose we looked at before, are designed to do just that.

With ingredients like horny goat weed and a musky vanilla scent, they’re supposed to evoke a sultry state of mind while tinting lips with a long-lasting lip stain and a satiny finish.

Truth be told, I haven’t yet felt the urge to bump Barry White and crawl all over a rotating heart-shaped bed while wearing either of these shades…but I do feel like raising my hands in the air and waving them around like I just don’t care, which is something I normally do for drugstore versions of high-end makeup products.

These remind me of those $32 Yves Saint Laurent Glossy Stains…

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Bronzed, Poreless and Poised for Sun-Kissed Skin: The New Too Faced Bronzed & Poreless Pore Perfecting Bronzer

March 8th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

I wouldn’t exactly say it erases pores, or gives me supernaturally smooth skin, but the new $30 Bronzed & Poreless Pore Perfecting Powder from Too Faced does seem to smooth things out.

Where my pores are usually like, “OH, HAI! WE’RE KAREN’S PORES!” wearing Bronzed & Poreless Pore Perfecting Powder’s super soft, fine grains, my pores are definitely softer spoken, like “Oh, hello. Don’t mind me. I’m just one of Karen’s pores.” 🙂

Bronzed & Poreless, one of two powders in the new Hello Sunshine summer collection, is the more matte and orange of the two. The other one, Endless Summer 16-Hour Long-Wear Bronzer, showcases more gold.

If you’re looking for warmth above all else and/or have light or medium skin tone, I’d probably go with Bronzed & Poreless instead of Endless Summer, as Bronzed & Poreless sits on the lighter end of the bronzing spectrum.

Too Faced Bronzed Poreless Pore Perfecting Bronzer 17 — Too Faced Bronzed & Poreless Pore Perfecting Bronzer

Too Faced Bronzed Poreless Pore Perfecting Bronzer 17a — Too Faced Bronzed & Poreless Pore Perfecting Bronzer

Too Faced Bronzed Poreless Pore Perfecting Bronzer 18 — Too Faced Bronzed & Poreless Pore Perfecting Bronzer

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A 16-Hour Bronzer? What a Tan-talizing Thought! The New Two Faced Cosmetics Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer

March 6th, 2013 by Karen 28 Comments

That’s me wearing the new $30 Too Faced Cosmetics Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer (from the new Hello Sunshine summer 2013 collection) below my cheek bones, in the creases of my eyes and around the edges of my face…

Bronzer fiend says what?

What?

I’m addicted to bronzer. 🙂 Have been for a while, but it’s progressed to the point where I feel naked when I’m not wearing any bronzer at all, like I’m running through the aisles at Trader Joe’s wearing nothing but my skivvies and a pair of flip-flips and trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone while I clutch six bags of coconut chips in my arms.

Awkward…

It’s a problem, but at least it’s easy to fix. I just make a point of carrying from one to three bronzers with me at all times (’cause you never know when the urge for NARS Laguna, MAC Give Me Sun or Benefit Hoola will strike).

Okay, not all times. But most.

Except for lately, because I’ve been in the mood to travel light. I rediscovered this small, striped Kate Spade wristlet that I like, and it’s just too small for three bronzers and the kitchen sink.

I guess the stars were aligning when I met the new $30 Too Faced Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer. A light golden brown with subtle shimmer, it keeps me bronzed from brunch to bed, so I don’t have to bring it with me for touch-ups when I leave the house.

Too Faced says that the formula, which combines film formers and polymers with long-lasting pigments, lasts as long as it does because of its “double bond formula…” And yes, I’m picturing two Daniel Craigs. 🙂

They also claim that it’s out of this world! — as in universally flattering, and I can see that. Mostly. I do think it may go ashy on the deepest skin tones…

Too Faced Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer 12 — Too Faced Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer

Too Faced Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer 13 — Too Faced Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer

Too Faced Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer 14 — Too Faced Endless Summer 16 Hour Long-Wear Bronzer

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14 More Reasons to Carry a Bigger Makeup Bag: The 14 New, Single-Swipe Creme Smooth Lip Colours From Laura Mercier

March 6th, 2013 by Karen 31 Comments

Wearing the new $26 Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Colour in Belize, one of 14 new spring shades available now at Laura Mercier counters and online

There are some things I don’t mind doing over and over again…

Like hitting the rewind button during that part in Magic Mike when Channing Tatum dances to Pony. Or listening to this song by Flesh for Lulu from the Some Kind of Wonderful soundtrack which, I kid you not, I’ve listened to at least 47 times over the past two days.

(Anyone else out there ever wish they lived in a John Hughes ’80s teen film world? Anyone? Bueller?)

But applying coat after coat of a lipstick in the quest of full coverage color is NOT one of those things.

Maaaan, no can do. Give me a one-swipe lipstick, like any of the 14 new $26 Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Colours, any old day.

Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Colour Spring 2013 small — Four of the 14 new Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Colours from the left: Belize, Fresh Raspberry, Hollywood and Maya ($26 each)

I try to stay busy, try to get things done, but I’m definitely part lazy at heart, and it’s that part of me that really likes Laura’s Creme Smooth Lip Colours.

These corals, pinks, reds and berries make it easy to turn up the volume of your look; one layer applied straight from the tube turns the dial to 10. All of a sudden, that girl sitting over there? — the one whose sweats are covered in cat hair? Now she’s also stylish. Now she’s the stylish girl wearing sweats that are covered in cat hair.

LOL!

These 14 new shades contain just as much awesome sauce as the 18 existing ones that catapulted into the permanent line last fall. Same unscented, unflavored formula, moderately shiny finish and 5-6 hour wear time, and now they, too, are permanent, so even if you can’t make it to the mall today, no worries. These aren’t going anywhere for a while.

Perfect! — because now we don’t have to rush. We can plant our butts on the couch and watch Magic Mike one more time. 🙂

When we do make it to the counter, however, I hope you check coral Belize, bright mauve Fresh Raspberry, red Hollywood and orangey red Maya. They’re my favorites among the new shades. They light up faces faster than you can say, “Make it rain, Channing Tatum! Make it rain!!”

Laura Mercier Creme Smooth lilp Colour swatches — Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Colour swatches from the left: Belize, Fresh Raspberry, Hollywood and Maya

Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Colour in Maya

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This Ocean’s Pretty Cool: The Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection for Spring 2013

March 5th, 2013 by Karen 20 Comments

Calling all mermaids and beach babes! The Oceanid collection by Gabriel Cosmetics ZuZu Luxe may tempt you to take the plunge into this indie line of all-natural, gluten-free and vegan makeup.

Made without synthetic chemicals or animal by-products, the line is pretty new to me, but being a water baby and all, the teals and blues caught my eye.

I also liked how Gabriel Cosmetics sprinkled in cool-toned shades for the eyes and lips — something kinda different from the warm bronzes and golds that typically come with beach-themed collections.

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Calypso Eye Shadow ($15.25 for a 0.07-ounce pan), a bright blue matte with cool undertones

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Breeze Eye Shadow ($15.25 for a 0.07-ounce pan), a shimmery warm golden teal

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Platinum Eye Shadow ($15.25 for a 0.07-ounce pan), a shimmery cool pink

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Sunset Blush ($21.50 for a 0.10-ounce pan, a shimmery, warm golden apricot

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Crystal Lip Gloss ($13.80 for a 0.17-ounce tube), a clear gloss

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Navy Mascara ($16.70 for a 0.25-ounce tube, a matte navy

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Navy Mascara brush

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Fresh Lip Liner ($13.80 for a 0.04-ounce pencil), a matte cool pink

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection Liquid Eyeliner in Taureg ($14.85 for a 0.10 ounce bottle), a matte cool brown

Gabriel Cosmetics Oceanid Collection swatches from the left: Breeze, Calypso and Platinum Eye Shadows; Sunset Blush

The stand outs? The eye shadows. They boast mad pigment, refuse to fall out and blend like buttah. I think they could easily hold their own with the MAC, NARS and Urban Decay eye shadows in my makeup bag.

Quick takes on the rest of the collection:

Sunset Blush: A super-saturated apricot with fine powder grains; love it
Navy Mascara: A little hard to see the blue; better at lengthening than thickening
Taureg Liquid Eyeliner: Loaded with pigment, but the stiff brush makes it hard for me to get sharp lines
Fresh Lip Liner: A matte cool pinkish beige that feels comfy and smooth
Crystal Lip Gloss: A non-sticky, unscented clear gloss with a very faint sugar flavor

Overall, I like this collection, especially the eye shadows and the blush, and I think the cool-toned elements add a fresh twist.

PRICE: $13.80-$21.50)
AVAILABILITY: Available now at Whole Foods, Pharmaca and online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen