Product Reviews

Shoot, Illamasqua’s Bright, Intensely Green Lipgloss Grows on You

February 6th, 2013 by Karen 55 Comments

Illamasqua Shoot Lipgloss — Wearing Illamasqua Shoot Intense Lipgloss ($22) on my lips from the new Imperfection spring 2013 collection, available now at Illamasqua counters and illamasqua.com

I really couldn’t say if Illamsaqua’s new Intense Lipgloss in Shoot will find its way into the purses of pouty-lipped cougars stalking Thursday happy hours, or whether it’ll take the makeup world by storm! — like NARS Orgasm blush did, but I will say that based on my time with this pureed pea green gloss, it’s actually, well, pretty darned wearable!

All things considered…

Perhaps it’s due to the way this leafy green shade, with its waxy shine, contrasts against the skin?

Or maybe it’s because I feel like a kid again when I wear it, like I’m sitting on the lawn at recess with my friends, watching our tiny fingers thread through blades of grass as we look for ladybugs, four-leaf clovers and Smurfs.

Illamasqua Shoot Lipgloss Product Shot — Yup, it’s a gloss

Hmm…

Let’s face it, this color’s a little cray. Even El Hub, who’s infamous for never noticing these things (it took the man a week once to realize that I’d dyed my hair pink), blurted, “You’ve got Hulk lips,” when I came walking down the stairs.

If you like to scoot under the radar, you might want to wear something else…but if you like to push the boundaries between beauty and botany and/or work in an environment where bright green glosses are the norm, why not? 🙂

Illamasqua Shoot Lipgloss Swatch — Sealed with a green kiss!

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Big Snakes on a Blog! Or, the New MAC Year of the Snake Large Eye Shadows in Once Upon a Time, Altered State, Carbon and Aztec Brick

February 5th, 2013 by Karen 52 Comments

MAC Year of the Snake Large Eyeshadows in Altered State and Carbon — Here I’m wearing the new $21 MAC Year of the Snake collection Large Eye Shadows (available now exclusively online) in Altered State on my lids and in my creases, and Carbon in the outer corners and along my lower lash lines

Here’s to hoping that these four new Large Eye Shadows from MAC are the closest I ever come to having snakes on top of my eyes!

Not that I have anything against snakes (of the reptilian variety). My aversion to slithering creatures doesn’t extend to snakes. It’s more of an anti-worm policy (they’re so slimy and squiggly, YUCK!). I’m definitely not anti-snake.

I actually think they’re pretty cool and inspiring, really. All sleek, graceful and frightening at the same time, kind of like Grace Jones in Conan The Destroyer.

And speaking of Conan, these snake-patterned 0.10-ounce pans are also pretty huge (twice the size of MAC’s regular 0.05-ounce pans).

MAC Once Upon a Time Large Eye Shadow from the Year of the Snake Collection — Once Upon a Time, a metallic vanilla with a veluxe pearl finish

MAC Aztec Brick Large Eye Shadow — Aztec Brick, a frosted copper with a veluxe pearl finish

MAC Carbon Large Eye Shadow — Carbon, an intense black with a matte finish

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Too Faced Added a Bushel of Berries — Yes, for Spring — to Their Moisturizing La Creme Lipstick Line

February 5th, 2013 by Karen 22 Comments

Too Faced Loganberry Swatch — Here I’m wearing the new Too Faced $21 La Creme Lipstick in berry pink Loganberry, one of four new berry shades available now at Too Faced counters and online at toofaced.com

Berries in the springtime? Absolutely! Why not? 🙂

Too Faced just added four new shades to their deliciously creamy and potently pigmented La Creme Lipstick line, and if you love berry shades, your makeup bag runneth over with good luck.

Too Faced Bumbleberry, Loganberry, So Berry Sexy and Teddy Berry La Creme Shades for Spring 2013 — From the left: Bumbleberry, Loganberry, So Berry Sexy and Teddy Berry

Too Faced La Creme Spring 2013 Bumbleberry, Loganberry, So Berry Sexy and Teddy Berry Swatches — Swatches from the left on my NC42 skin: Bumbleberry, Loganberry, So Berry Sexy and Teddy Berry

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For Chic Burgundy Cheeks, Try the New NARS 413 BLKR Multiple

February 5th, 2013 by Karen 23 Comments

The question is, would I wear the new sheer burgundy cream stick Mutiple in NARS 413 BLKR on my eyes?

Hmm… Probably not, unless I were planning to attend an apocalypse party or wanted to celebrate the mid-season return of The Walking Dead this Sunday night with an undead chic look.

Burgundy eyeshadow plus Karen’s eyelids equals zombie time! But if burgundy’s your jam, you could wear it on your eyes, because NARS designed their (The?) Multiples to work pretty much everywhere — eyes, cheeks, lips, and even your bod, where you could use it to contour.

Dark, imposing and almost Medieval in stick form, 413 BLKR manifests into a much more approachable sheer matte burgundy on cheeks, where it gives a tint like I just spent an hour outside on a sunny hillside, looking up at the clouds and daydreaming…

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MAC Took a Shine to Snakes This Year, and Their Efforts Are Slithering Into Makeup Bags: Introducing the Three MAC Year of the Snake Lipsticks

February 4th, 2013 by Karen 38 Comments

MAC Freckletone Lipstick from the MAC Year of the Snake Collection — Here I’m wearing the new MAC Freckletone Lipstick ($15), one of three Lustre Lipsticks from the new Year of the Snake collection, available now exclusively online at maccosmetics.com

[RING! RING!]

ME: Yellow.

EL HUB: Hi, sweetie.

ME: Hi.

EL HUB: How’s it going? Have you had lunch yet?

ME: I’m at Petco.

EL HUB: Getting gravy for Tabs?

ME: No, I’m looking at snakes.

EL HUB: …

ME: And I’m listening to Biggie on my headphones and actually doing The Snake while I watch them.

EL HUB: Not.

ME: Yes.

EL HUB: Why are you doing that?

ME: It’s research…and I’m looking for inspiration to help me write about the new MAC Year of the Snake collection lipsticks.

EL HUB: [LAUGHING] Okay, is it helping?

ME: It is! I’m doing like Don Draper. Remember that Mad Men episode where he said, “Think about it deeply, then forget it. Then an idea will jump up in your face”?

EL HUB: No.

ME: Well he did.

EL HUB: Maybe you could just write about how weird it is to do The Snake in the middle of Petco while actually looking at real snakes.

ME: Hmm… It does sound weird when you say it that way. 🙂

What was the first thing I noticed about the three new lipsticks in the Chinese New Year’s-inspired MAC Year of the Snake collection? That’s easy — their righteous reptilian packaging!

MAC Cockney Lipstick MAC Year of the Snake Collection — Cockney, a sheer yellowish red with multi-dimensional pearl and a Lustre Lipstick finish

Those intricate snake patterns along the sides of the bullets? So cool! I just love those kinds of little touches. It turns something as ordinary as a tube of lipstick into a little work of art.

MAC included two brights — Cockney and Plumful — and one neutral — Freckletone — with the collection, all of them in the MAC Lustre Lipstick formula, which is one of my favorite MAC formulas on account of how easy it is to wear.

Lightweight, smooth, shiny and moisturizing, the Lustres last for me from 3-4 hours. When I want to wear a lipstick but feel like my lips are parched and desperately seeking TLC, I’ll often reach for a Lustre.

MAC Plumful Lipstick MAC Year of the Snake Collection — Plumful, a rosy plum with a Lustre Lipstick finish

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I’m Drawn to the New Dior Diorshow Art Pen

February 4th, 2013 by Karen 25 Comments

Dior Diorshow Art Pen in Catwalk Black — Wearing the new Diorshow Art Pen in Catwalk Black ($30), coming March to Dior counters and Dior.com

I guess you could spend the entire eight hours that Dior’s new quick-drying, long-wearing Diorshow Art Pen ($30) lasts on lids stomping on catwalks and smiling with your eyes. 🙂

Or, you could spend that same amount of time…

Watching the last three episodes of Homeland, Season 2, while wondering whether it’s too late and/or unrealistic to consider a career as a television writer (I’d love to work on something like 30 Rock).
Finishing four loads of laundry and shaking your fists in fury after you find your very furry, very misbehaved cat rolling around on top of a freshly washed load of light-colored laundry like it’s his job.
Writing several long lists, like “Things to do before my birthday,” “Where I want to be in 5 years,” and “Ways to make the world a better place.”
Watching the entire Super Bowl from start to finish, and then having a “Hallelujah!” moment when you realize that you were actually able to follow what was going on, thanks to your husband’s patient football tutelage.
Watching the Puppy Bowl, while mumbling about how cats always seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to prime-time TV coverage…
Coming close to tears TWICE during the commercial breaks (the Clydesdale horse one and the gorgeous imagery in “God Made a Farmer”)… Freakin’ PMS!!

I really like this liner. It’s available in a single shade, Catwalk Black, a rich, true black without any blue tones that dries quickly to a high-gloss finish. One swipe delivers intense pigment, so I can quickly line my eyes without having to keep adding layers.

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MAC Welcomes the New Nicki Minaj Nicki 2 Lipstick and Lipglass to the Viva Glam Fam

February 1st, 2013 by Karen 55 Comments

Truth be told, I’m totally over this blonde Betty wig because I feel completely insane when I have it on. Plus, when the UPS guy came to my door last week, he said I looked like Lil’ Kim. Um, thanks?

But I felt like swatching the new MAC Viva Glam Nicki 2 Lipstick and Lipglass today, so I threw it on for just one Barbz pic because it seemed like the right thing to do.

MAC Viva Glam Nicki 2 Lipglass — Dear UPS Guy, Please don’t say I look like Lil’ Kim. Love, MBB

As members of the MAC Viva Glam family, 100 percent of the proceeds from the sales of Nicki 2 Lipstick and Lipglass go to support the MAC AIDS Fund, which helps women, children and men living with HIV/AIDS.

Once again, MAC teamed up with Nicki Minaj, and this year, they’re serving up a pale pastel lavender pink.

It’s a very distinct type of lip look with lots of drama.

MAC Viva Glam Nicki 2 Lipglass Swatch — Viva Glam Nicki 2 Lipglass

MAC Viva Glam Nicki 2 Lipstick Swatch — Viva Glam Nicki 2 Lipstick

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The New Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders Light the Way to a Flawless Face, Casting Their Spell on Complexions This Spring

January 31st, 2013 by Karen 79 Comments

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Dim Light — Wearing the new Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light ($45)

I tell El Hub all the time that if we ever win the lottery, I’m hiring Heidi Klum’s Project Runway lighting crew to follow me around wherever I go (ever notice how they light her compared to how they light the other judges and contestants?).

He thinks I’m kidding, but I’m COMPLETELY SERIOUS.

I don’t know, though. Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore, now that I’ve found these Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. 🙂

You know how skin looks so warm and buttery and beautiful at sunset? Or the way it looks by candlelight? You’re having dinner at a nice restaurant, they’ve got the lights turned down low, and you reach into your purse for your compact, check your gloss and think, “Wow! Where did my smile lines go?”

The right lighting makes a big difference. This, Hourglass knows, which is why they designed their six $45 Ambient Lighting Powders to make skin appear as if it’s bathed in flattering light.

No need for a film crew or an expensive studio setup. Just pick your powder by its illuminating effect — Diffused Light, Ethereal Light, Radiant Light, Mood Light, Dim Light or Luminous Light.

The secret, Hourglass says, isn’t lumens or wattage. It’s the transparent, color-correcting particles in the powders that filter and manipulate light.

Never mind that I’m thinking that same answer would probably also apply to other products from other brands. I’m more concerned about one thing: how well does it work?

Here in my own little photo studio, also known as the hallway outside of my office, I’ve been testing three of the six — Dim Light, Luminous Light and Radiant Light — I have to say, I’m impressed. What Hourglass does by varying the finishes, shimmer, sheen and pigment does seem to emulate different kinds of light.

No, I doubt Heidi Klum is going to give up her zillion-dollar studio setup for one or two of these, but still — pretty neat!

I love all three. Both for their fancy finishes, and for the way the almost imperceptible grains of powder disappear on my skin.

Dim light

I’d swear that Dim Light, hands down my favorite of the three, takes 10 years off my face. A neutral, peachy beige, it has a soft sheen and a lovely satin finish. With it on, I feel like my pores and fine lines look a little less obvious, and my skin has this certain quiet radiance to it that I remember being there when I was in my 20s and teens (lately, not so much, LOL!). “Siri, remind me to stockpile this before the zombie apocalypse.”

Luminous Light

With Luminous Light, the champagne pearl, Hourglass turned up the shimmer to re-create a soft, candlelit glow. Think angel halos…or a MAC Shell Pearl Beauty Powder with a softer, finer pearl sheen. This is the one I’d wear when I want to draw attention to my skin. I’d apply it just over the center of my face to highlight and lift my look.

Radiant Light

Radiant Light, a super sheer, semi-matte golden beige/bronze with flecks of golden glitter, is probably the flashiest of these three. Where this one lives, it’s always summer in Las Vegas. Picture the desert sun falling on the faces of Las Vegas Ladies Who Lunch.

Hourglass Ambient Powders closeup — The new Hourglass Ambient Powders ($45 each) and Ambient Powder Brush ($35)

Hourglass Dim Light Ambient Powder — Dim Light, a neutral peach beige ($45)

Hourglass Radiant Light Ambient Powde — Radiant Light, a golden beige ($45)

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