Product Reviews

The MAC Primped Out Lip Look Bag in Lavish Coral, and an Open Letter to Curmudgeons and Grinches-in-Training

November 1st, 2012 by Karen 20 Comments

Dear Curmudgeons and Grinches-in-Training,

Avert your eyes! Step away from the monitor or makeup counter, and don’t even think about looking at MAC’s new $39.50 Primped Out Lip Look Bag in Lavish Coral, a new limited edition holiday gift set in the MAC Fabulousness collection.

Like Santa’s bag of gifts, this pink leopard print purse (cute overload!) is filled with goodies, namely three coral lip products.

MAC Primped Out Lip Look Bag Lavish Coral — Primped Out Lip Look Bag in Lavish Coral, $39.50

If you didn’t heed my advice and looked at the bag, you might be wondering, “Would this kit be a good holiday gift?”

Well, unless you want your 14-year-old niece throwing her arms around your neck and calling you “the coolest aunt evah!” — DON’T DO IT!

Unless you want your favorite coworker, the one who dutifully listens to your endless cat stories without ever rolling her eyes, to send you a text that reads, “WERK BFFs 4 LIFE!” — DON’T DO IT!

Unless you’re completely comfortable being adored and repeatedly hearing, “OHMIGOSH! This bag is so cute, and I can totally wear all of these colors!” — DON’T DO IT!

Why? Because I think this kit is entirely capable of thrilling everyone on your holiday list. The three neutral coral colors it contains should suit most skin tones, and the black and pink leopard print bag is full-on adorable.

5 Reasons to Love the New MAC Lip Look Bag in Lavish Coral

The primped-out purse is so cute! It’s also easy to open and close, and large enough to hold everything that comes with the kit, as well as a full-size powder compact.

The Lip Liner Pencil in Boldly Bare looks great with coral, peach or brown lipsticks. This neutral reddish brown pencil is even deluxe sized, and I think it also looks great with a nice gloss slicked on top.

The Cremesheen Glass in Kiss Me Softly is slightly larger than the Cremesheen Glasses in MAC’s permanent line. But just barely. It comes in a 0.09-ounce tube, versus the 0.08-ounce ones from MAC’s permanent line. This soft peachy golden pearl is also lovingly sheer and moisturizing, and the non-sticky, lightweight formula has a faint vanilla flavor and scent.

Cremesheen Lipstick in Shy Girl is a perfect everyday color. This sheer, beige-like coral has a creamy finish and the same vanilla vibe as the gloss. This one here is also full size.

The price! I think $39.50 is actually a pretty sweet deal, considering that one full-size MAC Lipstick, a Cremesheen Glass and a Lip Liner Pencil would by themselves cost $59 (and that doesn’t include the print bag).

MAC Primped Out Lip Look Bag in Lavish Coral swatches — From the left: Lip Liner in Barely Bold, Lipstick in Shy Girl and Cremesheen Glass in Kiss Me Softly

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A 60-Second Review: Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Creme Lipstick in Vintage

November 1st, 2012 by Karen 18 Comments

Haven’t we all rutted around in our makeup bags from time to time and wished for that one special lipstick? That one lipstick both professional enough to wear to the office (“Hey, new girl, have you filled out those TPS reports?”), and dynamic enough to dazzle a first date? A lipstick so resourceful, so transcendent, that it possessed the power to turn you into a one-lipstick girl?

If there ever were such a shade, it would be Vintage. The new $30 Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Creme Lipstick in Vintage.

One of four new winter neutrals in the long-wearing Femme Rouge Velvet Cream Lipstick line, creamy, rosy pink Vintage feels delightfully indulgent for such a lightweight lippie, like adding full-fat cream to your morning coffee (whatevs, you’ll just run it off later!). 🙂

The new Hourglass Femme Rouge Lipsticks in Icon (left) and Vintage (right)

hourglass femme rouge velvet creme lipsticks in fawn, peach, mural and vintage — The four new Hourglass Femme Rouge shades: Fawn, Peace, Mural and Vintage

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Even Brows Need Good Arch Support, and the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil Delivers That

October 31st, 2012 by Karen 24 Comments

Did you hear the news?? TMZ is reporting that pop princess/cat lady Katy Perry attended the SF Giants victory parade in San Francisco today. 🙂

And that’s not all. Surrounded by throngs of rowdy revelers, she threw an impromptu concert!

LOL! Yeah, that’s me hammin’ it up…

Dude! I have to tell you about a great product I used today, but before that, you ever play Where’s Waldo?

Or how about Where’s Marmalade? Can you spot him in the top pic? I figured that since Katy’s a cat lady, I ought to have at least one kitteh with me on tour.

Please, I implore you, don’t tell Tabs…

So, that blue wig? I LOVE IT! But too bad it hid my brows today, because I think they looked pretty darned fierce thanks to the new $32 Hourglass Arch Sculpting Brow Pencil.

Surprise! — I was running late getting out of the house in Katy costume this morning and had a lot to do, but only 10 minutes to do it in, so I raced through everything. Quickly, I filled in my brows with Arch’s awesome twist-up triangle tip, using broad strokes with one of its longer edges to fatten the sparse spots.

After that, I sculpted the ends a little, sharpening them using the triangle’s tip. All told, it probably took about a minute.

Of course, the brows were concealed by my wig…but I knew they were there, looking all full and fabulous, as opposed to harsh, ala Cruella de Vil.

According to Hourglass, the Arch Sculpting Brow Pencil’s formula combines the benefits of a powder and a wax to create brows that look soft, natural and full. Not quite hard like a stiff eye liner, or soft like a creamy kohl, the consistency has a little give to it. It’s firm, but not too firm, and it feels almost powdery. Soft wax within the formula binds the powdery pigments to each individual hair, keeping the strays in line.

I’m sporting a pretty strong brow look in these before and after pics, but I could’ve toned it down by running the included brow brush, which is on the opposite end of the pencil, through my brows.

hourglass arch review before after — Before (left) and after (right)

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Peanut Butter and Jelly, Meet Black Liner and Red Lipstick (Another Power Couple): The New Hourglass Icon Collection and Film Noir Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse

October 30th, 2012 by Karen 35 Comments

Wearing the new Hourglass Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss in Icon and Film Nor Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse, and thinking about a PB&J sandwich…

The six or seven (no kidding) peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I ate last week got me thinking about other great pairings, like Bogie and Bacall, Hall and Oats, Nutella and anything, and red lips and black liner…

Red lips and black liner — a quick and easy, everyday combo that always hits the spot (much like, in my case, creamy peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwiches on super soft, fresh bread).

But woman cannot live on sandwiches alone. No, this one also needs makeup! Like these pieces from the new Hourglass holiday collection — four long-wearing, blueish red lip products in a shade called Icon ($28-30 each), and a black pencil liner called Eclipse (the $28 Film Noir Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse, which is also available in a brown called Espresso).

Altogether, they’re like comfort food (but for your face). 🙂

Hourglass Extreme Sheen High-Shine Lip Gloss in Icon, $28, and Film Nor Kohl Eye Pencil in Eclipse, $28

Hourglass Panoramic Long Wear Lip Pencil, $28

Hourglass Opaque Rouge Liquid Lipstick in Icon, $28

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60-Second Review: MAC All For Glamour Touch Up Kit in Medium Dark

October 30th, 2012 by Karen 31 Comments

If the new MAC All For Glamour Touch Up Kit in Medium Dark ($39.50) were any cuter, I’d pinch its puffy satin cover and start speaking baby talk to it…

Who’s dat cute widdle kit?! Who’s dat cute widdle kit?! Wid da pwush widdle cubuh?! Is it you? Is it you?! YES, it’s you! You’re da cute widdle kit!! 🙂

The two products it protects, a colorless Blot Pressed Powder in Medium Dark and a pinkish neutral beige Sheen Supreme Lipstick in Bare Again, are products I would normally reach for any day of the week…

MAC All For Glamour Touch Up Kit Medium Dark — All For Glamour Touch Up Kit Medium Dark, $39.50

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What Is the Nature of Your Beauty Emergency? Dial Fine-One-One for Benefit’s Latest Cheek and Lip Trio

October 29th, 2012 by Karen 39 Comments

benefit fine one one review, swatches and photos — Wearing the new Benefit Fine-One-One on my cheeks and lips

This is Benefit Fine-One-One. What is the nature of your beauty emergency?

(Mumbling) Uh…

Hello? Miss, you’re gonna have to speak up.

(Whispering) I can’t. My guy is sound asleep in the other room, and I don’t want to wake him.

Okay…what is the emergency?

Well, I’m kinda sorta panicking because it’s the morning after our first sleepover, and I forgot my makeup bag.

Seriously?

Yeah, he hasn’t seen me without my war paint on yet, and I’d like to maintain the illusion that I just wake up with great hair and makeup, ya know?

…

OHMIGOSH! I think I’m hyperventilating!!

Alright, first of all, I need you to remain calm. Can you do that for me?

Yes…okay. I think so.

Good. Now I’m going to dispatch our Emergency Glam Squad to your location and a stick of Benefit’s new Fine-One-One.

Ooh, what’s that?! I’ve never heard of it before.

It’s a new brightening cheek and lip stick — a trio of creams perfect for situations like these. They can be used separately, or together, whenever you need a sheer flush in a flash.

How do I use it? What do I do when it arrives?

First, remove the cap, and twist the dial at the bottom. The stick, which has a shimmery pink champagne color, a matter watermelon and a matte coral, pops up like a tube of deodorant.

Swipe it directly on your cheeks…

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Neither Long Nights Nor Wig-Snatching Tabbies Can Stop the New MAC Extra Dimension Glamour Daze Eye Shadows

October 29th, 2012 by Karen 28 Comments

Gurl, I wish I could say that during the 10 hours the ah-MAY-zer-ing new $19.50 MAC Glamour Daze Extra Dimension Eye Shadows lasted on my lids the other day, I cranked out that young adult novel I’ve been meaning to write…

But nope. That book remains unwritten.

Instead, after layering a few of the shades on top of NARS Pro-Prime (my current primer fave) in the Katy Perry Halloween look, I…

…was the victim of a wig-snatching! — and the culprit was Tabs. He tugged the wig off while I was sitting on the couch (and now I know how it must feel to star on The Real Housewives of Atlanta).
…went shopping for Halloween candy at Target still dressed as Katy Perry. Mini-Snickers for everyone! 🙂
…painted my nails twice! Okay, three times… Two words: OPI Skyfall.
…talked to my mom on the phone and got caught up on all the family gossip (“Oh, but the thing is, HE’S A MARRIED MAN!”) and her favorite Korean soaps in less than five minutes.
(And I fear I’m beginning to confuse the family events with some of the plot lines from the soaps.)

Poster child for productivity, I’m not, but at least these shadows look good. 🙂 They up the ante on the first batch of Extra Dimension Eye Shadows MAC released last spring, incorporating the same shiny, vibrant finish, negligible creasing and smooth formula that steers clear of my fine lines with an improved wear time that lasts well beyond the original formula’s six hours.

Grayish black Tall Dark & Handsome, soft peach A Natural Flirt and pinkish purple Stylishly Merry last on my lids for at least 10 hours, which is as long as I’ve worn ’em, but I suspect their real wear time may be closer to 16!

Thing is, I haven’t had an occasion to wear them that long yet (no all-nighters at da club on my to-do list this week), but if/when I do, I bet they’ll last.

mac glamour daze holiday 2012 — Four of the eight Glamour Daze Extra Dimension Eyeshadows from the left: A Natural Flirt, Stylishly Merry, Divine Blue and Tall Dark & Handsom

mac glamour daze extra dimension eye shadow swatches — Swatches from the left: A Natural Flirt, Divine Blue, Stylishly Merry and Tall Dark & Handsome

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What’s the Word on the New MAC Perfectly Plush Advanced Brush Kit?

October 27th, 2012 by Karen 16 Comments

A lot of people don’t know this, but the bag that comes with MAC’s Perfectly Plush Advanced Brush Kit ($49.50) was patterned after the elusive pink lady leopard…

How cool is that? 🙂

But seriously, I can totally see one of the Pink Ladies from Grease working this kit in the powder room at the malt shop. It’s gotta be one of the best-looking MAC limited edition holiday brush sets I’ve ever seen.

Included with the bag: the 167 Bronzer Brush, the 168 Large Angled Contour Brush, the 239 Eye Shader Brush, the 217 Blending Brush and the 212 Flat Definer Brush.

Counting the bag, that works out to roughly $8.25 per piece.

Unfortunately, the kit has something else in common with fictitious big cats…

The bristles are so scratchy! — like leopard claws! They’re nowhere near as soft as my regular full-size MAC brushes.

Hrmpf! At least the face brushes seem okay, but those eye brushes are a total drag.

Sucks, too, because the set comes with two of my all-time favorite MAC brushes, the 239 and 217. Here, though, they’re both super scratchy, and the brush heads themselves also seem less dense than usual.

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